HOUSTON – HCU jumps fully into Southland Conference play this weekend against UT Rio Grande Valley at Husky Field from Friday through Sunday with non-conference series finished for the season.
The Huskies (11-9, 4-2 SLC) are currently tied for third in the SLC standings while the visiting Vaqueros (10-11, 5-4 SLC) are tied for fifth. HCU faced UTRGV five times last year, all in Edinburg, Texas, and won four of the five meetings that included the Bracket Play portion of the SLC Tournament to advance to the SLC Championship Series.
HCU picked up a 12-11 midweek victory over UTSA on Tuesday to improve to 11-4 over the last 15 games. In that 15-game span, the Huskies have out-scored their opponents by a combined 129-95 and have not lost consecutive games.
David Lopez has been strong in the rotation all season, currently ranking 24
th nationally with 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings and only seven pitchers in the country have more wins than his four. Last weekend, senior
Ben Smith went the distance in a 9-5 Sunday win at Tarleton State to secure the series win. Smith now has three wins on the mound this year.
Catcher
Levi Castilleja continues to pace the Huskies offensively, batting .436 with 14 runs scored and 14 RBI. Senior first baseman
Katcher Halligan checks in with a .338 average with 10 extra-base hits and has failed to record a hit in just four of his 20 games played.
UTRGV dropped a 7-3 ballgame in Houston on Tuesday evening to the Rice Owls with Easton Moomau leading the offense, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Thomas Williams leads the team for the season with a .367 average while reigning SLC Player of the Year Armani Raygoza leads the SLC with seven home runs. On the mound, Harrison Thayer leads the team in innings pitched with a 4.39 ERA and a 3-1 record.
The weekend's schedule sees the two teams play Friday, Mar. 20, evening at 6:30 p.m. followed by 2:00 p.m. start times on both Saturday, Mar. 21, and Sunday, Mar. 22.
HCU will have two midweek games following the weekend's action, first traveling to Bryan-College Station, Texas on Tuesday, Mar. 24, to take on the Texas A&M Aggies before returning home to host Rice on Wednesday, Mar. 25 at Husky Field.
