LAKE CHARLES, La. – HCU baseball continues Southland Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against the McNeese Cowboys at Joe Miller Ballpark this Friday and Saturday.
The Huskies (6-7, 2-1 SLC) fell in a midweek matchup to the No. 3 Texas Longhorns on Tuesday evening in Austin with
Katcher Halligan extending his hitting streak to nine games and hitting a solo home run. As a team, HCU has clubbed 31 doubles already this season to rank 16
th nationally.
On the mound, starter
David Lopez has been electric with 26 strikeouts in 14 innings pitched. The right-hander is averaging 16.71 strikeouts per nine innings, the eighth-best mark in the country. Lopez struck out seven in his HCU debut at Louisiana Tech in four innings before raking up nine and 10 strikeouts in his starts against Alcorn and UIW, respectively.
McNeese (7-6, 2-1 SLC) holds just a 2-5 record on their home field but the Cowboys have won five of their last six games, including a 7-6 road win over defending NCAA champion LSU on Feb. 24 in Baton Rouge.
Senior infielder Matt Stancliff is the reigning SLC Hitter of the Week and owns a .383 batting average with 13 runs scored and 11 RBI. Eric Nachtsteim, a senior, leads the McNeese pitching staff with a 0.64 ERA across 14 innings while making one start with a 2-0 record.
The weekend series will feature a doubleheader on Friday, Mar. 6, beginning at 2:00 p.m. with the third game set for Saturday, Mar. 7, at 2:00 p.m.
The Huskies and Cowboys played their three-game series last season in Houston with HCU winning two of three.
Following the Huskies' weekend series with the Cowboys they will travel north to Stephenville, Texas for their final non-conference series of the season, taking on the Texans the weekend of Mar. 13-15.
