NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The HCU baseball team will aim to get back on track this weekend when the Huskies head up Highway 59 to the Piney Woods to face the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks in a three-game Southland Conference series.
The Huskies (11-14, 4-5 SLC) and Lumberjacks (13-13, 5-4 SLC) both suffered sweeps this past weekend on their home field this past weekend and have fallen in midweek action this past week with both teams looking to return to the win column and move up the SLC standings.
In two midweek games this week, HCU fell on the road to No. 25 Texas A&M, 5-1, before falling in a 10-7 contest against Rice at Husky Field on Wednesday. The Huskies trailed the Owls until the seventh inning when a two-run home run from
Preston Curtis evened the score at 4-4. Rice answered with a five-run eighth and the Owls held off the Huskies in the ninth as HCU scored three and at one point had the tying run at the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out.
Redshirt junior catcher
Levi Castilleja continues to pace the HCU offense, batting .380 with a team-best .560 slugging percentage and a .508 on-base percentage. Senior outfielder
Jack Walker leads the team with 24 runs scored and tied for the team high with 20 RBI while carrying a .330 batting average.
SFA is led offensively by senior infielder Julian Swift with a .352 average, 10 doubles and a team-best 29 RBI. Swift is joined by three other Lumberjacks in batting above .320. The SFA rotation features three pitchers with sub-5.00 ERAs, including Dylan Mulcahy who sports a 3.00 ERA and a 2-1 record on the mound while striking out 28 with just four walks.
The Lumberjacks dropped a midweek matchup at home on Wednesday to Abilene Christian, 9-4, after getting swept in a three-game set by Tarleton State last weekend.
HCU is 21-24 all-time against the Lumberjacks, including wins in each of the last six meetings. The Huskies swept SFA at Husky Field last season.
The Huskies are back at Husky Field for a Tuesday, Mar. 31, matchup against Texas Southern at 6:30 p.m.
