HOUSTON – HCU opened its Southland Conference series against the New Orleans Privateers in dominant fashion, racing out to a 12-0 lead through three innings before cruising to a 15-1 win in seven innings at Husky Field on Friday evening.
HCU (17-20, 9-10 SLC) opener
Trent Barnes needed just 11 pitches to retire the first three batters of the game before the Huskies' offense got to work in the bottom half. The first two HCU hitters walked on nine pitches before back-to-back singles from
Jeremy Rader and
Luke Bard brought two runs in to score.
Anthony Avalos dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move two runners into scoring position for the first out of the inning to set the table for a two-run single by
Katcher Halligan.
Levi Castilleja followed that up with a double down the right field line but Halligan was thrown out at home trying to score from first.
The Huskies poured on more in the third. Rader led off with a single followed by a walk issued to Bard. Two batters later, with one out, Halligan singled through the right side to score Rader and move Bard over to third. Castilleja then lined a single to left, scoring Bard and forcing a UNO (16-24, 6-13 SLC) pitching change. With two runners on,
Nico DeFazio welcomed Tyler Velino with a three-run blast to left on an 0-1 count.
Preston Curtis then singled before
Jack Walker drew a walk. Following a strikeout, Rader blasted a 396-foot blast to left center for the second three-run home run of the inning and a 12-0 lead.
The Privateers got their first hit and baserunners of the game in the top of the fourth but
Joshua Caravalho stranded two to keep UNO off the board. Caravalho then left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth with the score still at 12-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, HCU added three more runs in an inning when they failed to record a hit. The Huskies took advantage of a hit batter and four walks in the inning. The Privateers got their one run in the top of the seventh.
The Huskies scored their 15 runs on 11 hits with all nine starters scoring at least one run. Rader finished the night 3-for-4 with four RBI and three runs scored. His home run was his second of the season. DeFazio also drove in four runs on a 1-for-4 night while hitting his third home run of the year. Halligan went 2-for-2, driving in three and scoring twice. Castilleja also finished with two hits.
Caravalho earned the win in relief, throwing five innings of scoreless ball to improve his season record to 3-4. The senior struck out six and walked three while allowing two hits.
The Huskies and Privateers will play game two of their three-game series on Saturday, Apr. 18, at 11:30 a.m. at Husky Field.
