RUSTON, La. – HCU fell behind early in both games of a Saturday doubleheader against Louisiana Tech and, despite closing the gap in both games, suffered a pair of two-run losses to the host Bulldogs at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
In game one, LA Tech (3-0) took advantage of a leadoff walk followed by a hit batter with Colby Lunsford driving in a run on a double to right center. Sebastian Mexico plated a second run in the bottom of the first with an RBI groundout. The Bulldogs then strung together three-straight hits with one out in the bottom of the second with the third a one-run double off the bat of Colton Coates.
Mexico opened the third inning with a leadoff triple, crossing the plate three batters later on a sacrifice fly to put the Bulldogs ahead, 4-0, through three innings. The next three innings moved quickly, with neither team able to push any runs across.
The Huskies (0-3) broke through in the top of the seventh with consecutive singles from
Anthony Avalos and
Levi Castilleja.
Nico DeFazio moved those two into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt followed by
Tyree Jackson singling to left to score Avalos from third and move Castilleja over to third. The next batter,
Jack Walker, lofted a sacrifice fly to right field in the next at bat to bring home Castilleja and cut HCU's deficit in half.
Louis Castano went out in the bottom half of the inning and retired the side in order, including two punchouts.
Katcher Halligan singled to lead off the eighth followed by a
Rhett Hendricks walk. Following a pair of strikeouts, Castilleja drew a walk to load the bases and DeFazio was hit by a pitch to bring Halligan home and make it a one-run game, 4-3. A sac fly in the bottom of the eighth again made it a two-run ballgame.
Walker singled to start the ninth for the Huskies, moving up to second on an error.
Jeremy Rader then put runners on the corners with a single. Luke Nicholls then registered a pair of strikeouts before inducing a fly-out off the bat of
Preston Curtis to close the door and end the game at 5-3.
Starter
David Lopez was tagged with the loss on the mound, allowing four earned runs on five hits in four innings with seven strikeouts and three walks. Castano threw 3.1 innings of relief, scattering four hits while striking out three and allowing one earned run. Walker and Rader both had two-hit games for HCU with a Rader double the team's lone extra-base hit. As a team, the Huskies left 11 runners on base.
The hosts jumped out to a first inning lead again in game two, a seven-inning affair. Trey Hawsey reached on a one-out single before scoring two batters later on a double by Mexico. Eli Berch followed with a double down the left field line to bring Mexico across and give LA Tech an early 2-0 advantage.
The Huskies answered quickly, however, with Hendricks leading off with a single to left followed by a Rader hit by pitch. With two on and nobody out, Curtis drove a double to deep center to bring Hendricks home from second and put two runners in scoring position. Avalos was then hit by a pitch to load the bases but the Bulldogs worked out of the bases loaded, no-out jam without any more damage to maintain a 2-1 lead.
HCU starter
Jacob Cyr then worked his way out of his own bases loaded situation in the bottom half of the second. In the third, Jackson doubled down the left field line to lead things off before Halligan reached on an error. Hendricks then poked a single through the right side to score Jackson and even things up, 2-2. A double play and a strikeout put an end to the HCU threat, however.
The Bulldogs came up with an answer in the fourth, putting together a two-run, four-hit inning to chase Cyr from the game. The Huskies pulled back to within one in the sixth as Hendricks reached for the third-straight time to lead things off followed by another Rader HBP to put a runner in scoring position. With two outs,
Zach Munton singled to bring Hendricks home.
LA Tech pushed two more across in the sixth, though, to lead by three heading into the seventh. Walker drew a leadoff walk, advancing to third with two outs on Hendricks' fourth hit of the game. Rader brought Walker home on a single through the right side before a strikeout ended the game at 6-4.
Hendricks ended the game 4-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and one RBI. On the mound, Cyr took the loss with four earned runs allowed on seven hits in 3.2 innings. The lefty struck out two and walked one.
The Huskies and Bulldogs close out their four-game set on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 1:00 p.m.
