HOUSTON – In a game that saw five lead changes, the HCU baseball team emerged with an 11-8 win over crosstown rival Rice in 11 innings at Reckling Park on Tuesday night.
The Huskies (4-5) jumped ahead in the top of the first with a pair of two-out hits. First,
Katcher Halligan doubled down the left field line and then
Rhett Hendricks singled up the middle to bring him home and stake HCU to an early 1-0 lead.
Rice (3-6) came out swinging the sticks in the bottom half of the first, however, chasing HCU starter
Jacob Cyr with two out in the first after scoring four runs on six hits for a three-run advantage at the end of the first inning.
Preston Curtis and
Levi Castilleja opened the second with back-to-back singles with
Nico DeFazio then reaching on an error on a sacrifice bunt to load the bases.
Tyree Jackson then deposited a 2-1 offering over the left field fence for a grand slam, his first home run as a Husky, to put the Huskies back ahead, 5-4.
That score held until the bottom half of the sixth when JC Davis answered with a grand slam of his own to put the Owls back in the lead, 8-5.
With the Huskies down to their last six outs,
Jeremy Rader singled up the middle to lead off the top of the eighth followed by a walk to
Anthony Avalos. Halligan then doubled down the left field line to drive in Rader with Avalos moving up to third. On the next pitch, Hendricks brought Avalos across the plate with a groundout to second base, leaving HCU just a run down through eight.
Castilleja jumped on the first pitch of the ninth inning for a double to left and give HCU a runner in scoring position with nobody out.
Walker Bazile pinch ran for Castilleja and moved over to third on a
Zach Munton sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout, Rader drew a two-out walk and then Bazile scored to tie the game on a wild pitch. Rader moved up another base on a subsequent wild pitch but was stranded on third at the end of the inning.
Rice threatened in the bottom of the ninth against
Ben Norton, putting runners on second and third with just one out but the HCU reliever got a strikeout and a ground ball to second to end the threat.
With one out in the top of the 11
th,
Graham Laxton and
Zach Munton drew consecutive walks before both moving up a base into scoring position on a wild pitch. Yet another wild pitch by Rice reliever Ty Thames allowed Laxton to score and Munton to advance to third, giving HCU a one-run lead. Following a pitching change, Jackson drew a walk to put runners on the corners. Rader then added to the Huskies' lead with a single to left center. Later in the inning, with two outs, Halligan singled up the middle for his third hit of the night to bring Jackson around from second to score and make it 11-8.
In the bottom half of the 11
th, the Owls put runners on the corners with one out against
Jett Feltman but the HCU senior induced a game-ending 5-4-3 double play to secure the win.
Norton threw three innings in relief to earn the win, his first of the year, not allowing a hit but walking four while striking out two. Feltman picked up the save with one strikeout and one hit allowed in a scoreless 11
th inning.
Halligan enjoyed a 3-for-6 night at the plate, doubling twice to give him five for the season as he drove in two runs and scored once. Jackson finished 2-for-5 with four RBI thanks to his grand slam and scored twice. Castilleja, Rader and
Jack Walker all finished the game with two hits.
The Huskies have no won four-straight games as they head into their first Southland Conference series of the season this coming Friday through Sunday against the UIW Cardinals at Husky Field.
