NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The HCU bats were slow to wake up on Sunday afternoon in the finale of the Huskies' three-game Southland Conference series against Stephen F. Austin at Pilgrim's Park and the Lumberjacks held off a late push to defeat the blue and orange, 5-2.
A leadoff walk in the bottom of the first followed by a groundout and an error put a runner on third with one out that scored on a sacrifice fly to put the Huskies' (12-16, 5-7 SLC) starter
Ben Smith in a 1-0 hole.
In the third, Smith retired the first two SFA (15-14, 7-5 SLC) batters her faced before getting into trouble. Cooper Schneider singled with a walk to Jhett Creel following. Julian Swift then drove a triple to right center to score two runs. On the next pitch, Mark Henning homered to right field to push the SFA lead to 5-0.
SFA starter Dylan Mulcahy worked around traffic in both the fourth and fifth innings, stranding two runners on base in both innings. HCU got on the board in the eighth inning thanks to a two-out home run to left from
Levi Castilleja.
HCU made things interesting in the ninth with
Tyree Jackson reaching on a one-out double.
Jeremy Rader then drew a walk to put another runner on and bring the tying run to the plate. Two batters later, with two outs,
Luke Bard loaded the bases with a single through the left side.
Jack Walker then singled to center to score one and keep the bases juiced and prompt a pitching change. Castilleja worked a full count but struck out swinging to end the game.
Castilleja's blast was his second home run of the season as he went 2-for-5 at the plate to raise his average to .356. Walker ended the day going 2-for-4 with an RBI while Jackson went 2-for-3, scoring once.
Smith falls to 3-3 on the season on the mound after throwing six innings with five runs allowed. Four of those runs were earned as the righty struck out four and walked three.
Kyler Mentzel and
Trent Barnes both threw one scoreless inning in relief.
HCU out-hit SFA by a 9-7 margin, stranding 12 baserunners on the day.
The Huskies will be back at Husky Field on Tuesday, Mar. 31, to host Texas Southern in a non-conference matchup beginning at 6:30 p.m.
