Skip To Main Content

Houston Christian University Athletics

OFFICIAL SITE OF HCU ATHLETICS
HCU ATHLETICS
ESPN Plus Logo
10 - Karlie Barba (StJ)
Juan DeLeon

SB: Huskies conclude 17-game road stretch at Sam Houston

HCU takes on former Southland foe in first midweek game of the season



HCU at SAM HOUSTON STATE
  • Tuesday – March 11 (6 pm)
  • Bearkat Softball Complex – Huntsville, Texas
  • 📈 LIVE STATS
Houston Christian University returns to action on Tuesday evening to finish off a 17-game stretch away from home when it travels just over 80 miles up Interstate 45-North to take on former Southland Conference foe Sam Houston State University. First pitch from Bearkat Softball Complex is slated for 6 pm.
 
HCU is coming off a three-game conference-opening sweep of Northwestern State University. It was the first sweep to open Southland play in program history and the first three-game sweep on the road since nearly one year to the day when the Huskies took three games from Stephen F. Austin State in Nacogdoches.
 
The Huskies took both ends of the Friday doubleheader, winning 8-3 and 7-5. HCU received a complete-game from Kynleigh Evans and a four-hit outing from AB Garcia, the third of her career. Garcia also tied a single-game record with two triples in the contest, as three of her four base knocks went for extra bases. Ella Herrewig cranked her first homer of the season and Karlie Barba added three hits.
 
After jumping out to a four-run lead early in game two, the Huskies broke a tie with three runs in the top of the sixth then held off the Demons down the stretch to complete the twin-bill sweep. Haylie Savage had the big game in the nightcap with four RBI and Cara Pitman closed the door with 1.2 innings of one-hit relief for her first career save.
 
On Saturday, the Huskies once again took a big lead, putting up a six-spot in the third only to have the hosts rally back to tie with two three-run frames. In the fifth, HCU took the lead for good in the fifth on a Hanna York RBI single and plated one more on an RBI groundout by Haylie Savage in the seventh. Ella Herrewig went 3-4 and Maddy Bailey added two hits while Leah Hammack picked up her second win of the weekend with 3.1 innings of two-hit relief to finish off the 8-6 victory and sweep of the series.
 
AB Garcia posted two more three-hit games over the weekend, including her third career four-hit game in the opener. She went 8-11 in the series with two doubles, two triples and six runs scored to continue her strong start to the season. She currently ranks first in the Southland in hits, runs scored and batting average, and second in each of the split lines (SLG / OB / OPS). Her stolen base in the opener was the 44th of her career, putting her in a second-place tie with Cindy Connell (1995-98).
 
Savage went 5-11 over the weekend with eight RBI to push her team-best total to 23 on the season, moving her into sole possession of sixth place on the all-time leaderboard. She is now batting .426 on the campaign and is second in the Southland in runs driven in, fourth in average and doubles and fifth in slugging and OPS.
 
Ella Herrewig is now third on the club in average at .390 and second in runs scored. Hanna York upped her average to .254 over the weekend and is second on the team in RBI with 12.
 
Hammack took the team lead in victories, and is now 4-3 on the season with a team-high three complete games and 45 innings pitched. Pitman is second with two complete games and three victories for the young staff.
 
HCU faces Sam Houston State for the 48th time overall, and while the Bearkats lead the all-time series 37-10, the two schools have split the past six meetings. Sam won the most recent matchup 3-0 at Husky Field last year.
 
The Bearkats, 11-13 on the season, are led by Garrett Valis, now in his seventh season. SHSU took two of three from Western Kentucky last weekend in Huntsville in their conference-opening series of the year.
 
Senior Brodie Quinlan paces the offense, batting .365 with four homers and 14 RBI. Sophomore catcher Bella Perez is batting .271 with a team-high five homers and 14 RBI. Three pitchers have won three games each for the Bearkats, and Abigail Young highlights the staff with a 0.79 ERA to go with her 2-3 record.
 
Following the mid-week contest, the HCU will return home for the first time since opening weekend when it hosts defending Southland Conference champion Southeastern Louisiana University. The two teams will play a twin-bill on Friday followed by the series finale on Saturday at noon.
 
#DawgsUp


 
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories