Juan DeLeon

SB: HCU set to open 2026 campaign on Thursday

2/4/2026 3:59:00 PM

Four games in three days across town at UH start stretch of four straight tournament weekends

Houston Christian University opens the 2026 campaign this weekend with four games over three days across town in the University of Houston Tournament. The Huskies will take on the host Cougars twice with a pair of games against Fairfield University as well to christen the 47-game slate.

Mary-Ellen Hall returns for her 35th season as head coach of her alma mater. The Huskies finished an injury-ravaged season at 17-33 overall, a year in which the team lost five players to season-ending injuries. HCU managed a 10-17 record in Southland action, advancing to its fifth straight appearance in the SLC Tournament.

HCU returns 13 players from last season for Hall, the winningest coach in school history. That group is highlighted by outfielder Maddy Bailey, a member of the inaugural SLC All-Defensive team last year, infielder Ella Herrewig and pitcher Cara Pitman.

Maddy Bailey batted .275 last year with a homer and 18 RBI, and was second on the team in doubles with nine. The graduate student from Katy, Texas moved from left field to center field for the final 16 games of the season after the loss of All-Conference centerfielder AB Garcia, and ended the season with 10 outfield assists, giving her 21 for her career.

A defensive jack-of-all trades from Langley, British Columbia, Canada, junior Ella Herrewig saw action all over the diamond last year. While spending the majority of her time at second and short, she mixed in some first base and outfield as well and made just six errors in 132 total chances. She ended the season second on the club in batting with a .331 average and also stole a team-best eight bases.

After a strong rookie campaign, Cara Pitman returns to anchor the pitching staff. The sophomore from Pearland made 30 appearances in the circle with 21 starts, tossing a team-high 130.1 innings and recording a 9-11 record. She along with fellow sophomore Leah Hammack combined for 15 of the team's 17 victories. A right-hander from Magnolia, Texas, Hammack went the distance seven times in 17 starts.

Other returnees for HCU include infielders Karlie Barba, Breana Herrera and Hanna York as well as outfielders and Chloe Foster, Jocelyn Briseno and Madison Dominguez.

Barba, a senior from Houston, and Herrera, a senior from Corpus Christi, are both first baseman. Barba batted .246 with two homers and 18 RBI in her first season with the Huskies, while Herrera was lost for the season after playing in 14 games. York, a sophomore from Pasadena, batted .250 as a rookie with two homers and 21 RBI.

Foster and Briseno, both Alvin Yellowjackets, return to bolster a solid outfield corps. Foster, a senior who made 46 starts in 48 games, batted .220 with eight RBI and tied for the team lead in sacrifices with six. Sophomore Briseno batted .228 on the season but went 10-24 over her last nine games after being thrown into the starting lineup with the glut of injuries. Dominguez was another one of the injury casualties as the sophomore outfielder from La Porte was lost after seeing action in just 10 games in her rookie season.

HCU also returns two catchers, Heidi Maytum and Jaycee Foor, who platooned last season with each making 28 starts.

The Huskies welcome a six-player recruiting class that features five transfers and one freshman. In addition, two pitchers who were sidelined in 2025 will return to play in Addy Prasifka and Christin Haygood.

Clear Lake product Prasifka returns after making just one start last season, a complete game with six strikeouts against New Mexico on opening weekend. Haygood, a graduate right-hander from Crosby, Texas who helped UT-Tyler to the 2024 Division II national title, was lost prior to the season's start.

They will be joined on the pitching staff by Jade Moreno, a transfer who spent two seasons at Texas-Arlington. A junior from Corpus Christi, Moreno went 3-5 in the circle over two seasons and also spent time as a designated player with three homers and seven RBI.

Other newcomers for the Huskies are transfers Tayden Alexander, Sofia Hollingsworth and Raenna Liscano along with the lone high school signing from a year ago, Chloe Phe.

Alexander, a junior outfielder from Katy, Texas, played the last two seasons at Navarro College, where she was a two-time All-Conference selection who also earned All-Region honors after helping the Bulldogs to the NJCAA World Series for the first time in 10 years. Hollingsworth, a junior infielder from Upland, California, spent last year at Paris Junior College, also leading the Dragons to the NJCAA Tournament and earning All-conference and All-Region honors. She played her first collegiate season at the University of Delaware.

Pearland native Liscano spent her first college campaign as a redshirt at Louisiana-Lafayette. Phe comes to the Huskies from Rockwall High School.

HCU will play four tournaments over the course of the first four weekends of the season, including one at home. The Huskies open with the four games across town before hosting four games on Valentine's Day weekend at Husky Field. Pittsburgh, Michigan, Penn State and Lafayette will come to Beechnut Street for games on February 13 and 14 while also playing games at UH as well.

The Huskies then north on 45 to Huntsville for the Bearkat Invitational, facing host Sam Houston twice, Prairie View A&M twice and Austin Peay once. The final tournament of the non-conference slate is in Albuquerque at the UNM Invitational, a second straight five-game weekend with a game against Tarleton preceding two apiece with UTEP and host New Mexico.

Just two non-conference mid-week games dot the schedule, both on the road. HCU will face UTSA in San Antonio on February 17 and then head just across the city to take on Texas Southern on March 24.

This will mark the second straight season of 27 Southland Conference games, with the Huskies this season getting five three-game series at home. HCU will host Northwestern State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Stephen F. Austin, Nicholls and Lamar, with road series at both Southeastern and McNeese as well as Incarnate Word and East Texas A&M.

The Southland Tournament will once again be broken up into two weeks, the first week being a pair of four-team brackets and the second a championship series between the two bracket winners at the highest remaining seed.

HCU takes on UH on Thursday at 4 pm in the opener, then again on Friday in the second game of a doubleheader at 2 pm. HCU and UH have met 12 times, most recently last April 22, an 11-0 win for the Cougars.

The two games with Fairfield will be the first-ever meetings between the schools. The Huskies will open the Friday twin-bill against the Stags at 11 am, then close the weekend with another 11 am game on Saturday morning.

The two games against University of Houston will be streamed on ESPN+, while the two contests against Fairfield will be LIVE STATS only.

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Four games in three days across town at UH start stretch of four straight tournament weekends

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