HOUSTON – HCU pitchers struck out 16 batters but the Huskies fell, 8-6, in their Southland Conference opener against UIW on Friday evening at Husky Field.
UIW (7-3, 1-0 SLC) pushed across four runs with two outs in the top of the first with three of those runs earned off HCU (4-6, 0-1 SLC) starter
Joshua Caravalho. In the bottom of the second,
Jack Walker laced a double to left center with one out, scoring on a
Preston Curtis single three pitches later. Catcher
Levi Castilleja followed with a double down the left field line to give HCU two runners in scoring position.
Nico DeFazio kept things going, singling up the middle to bring both runners home and cut the UIW lead down to just one, 4-3, through two.
The Cardinals again extended their lead in the fourth with Kevin Ramos sending a leadoff home run over the wall to right to make it 5-3. Three batters later, with one out, Trent Rucker drove an 0-2 offering over the left center field fence to push the score to 7-3 in the visitors' favor. UIW's eighth run came in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Drake Anderson.
The Huskies began chipping away, first with
Rhett Hendricks scoring on a Castilleja single in the sixth. In the seventh,
Anthony Avalos reached on a one-out single before racing home on a double to deep right center off the bat of
Katcher Halligan, cutting it down to 8-5.
Then, in the ninth,
Tyree Jackson and
Jeremy Rader opened the inning with consecutive singles to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Avalos lifted a sacrifice fly to score Jackson and leave HCU down to its final two outs with a runner on first. Halligan then drew a walk followed by a Hendricks fly-out to the wall in left center, allowing Rader to move up to third. The game ended with two runners on as Walker lined a well-hit ball to center that was caught by UIW's Trent Rucker.
Castilleja finished the night 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, one RBI and one run scored while Avalos went 2-for-4 in the game, also driving in one and scoring once. Halligan's double was his sixth of the year.
Caravalho falls to 1-2, taking the loss after allowing seven runs, six earned, on six hits in 3.1 innings. Seven of the 10 outs the senior recorded were strikeouts.
Louis Castano threw 4.2 innings in relief, scattering five hits and allowing one earned runs while striking out eight and not issuing a walk.
Brock Lambert pitched the ninth for HCU, striking out one while not allowing a baserunner.
The Huskies and Cardinals will play game two of their three-game series on Saturday, Feb. 28, afternoon at Husky Field with first pitch set for 2:00 p.m.
