HAMMOND, La. – No. 8 seed HCU took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth but the No. 1 seed Southeastern Lions scored a pair of runs in the last frame to walk-off the Huskies in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament on Thursday night at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
The Huskies (23-28) put a pair of runners on in the top of the second with back-to-back one-out singles from
Anthony Avalos and
Levi Castilleja but both were stranded. Peyton Woods then drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second for Southeastern (32-19) and scored two batters later on a Connor Cuff double.
In the top of the third,
Luke Bard reached on a one-out walk before moving up on a
Katcher Halligan single.
Jeremy Rader then grounded out to short, advancing the runners to second and third. With two outs,
Jack Walker dropped a shallow fly ball into shallow right center field to bring both runners home and give the Huskies a 2-1 lead. HCU starter
Ben Smith left two runners on in the third and then left the bases loaded in the fourth to keep the Huskies in the lead.
The score remained at 2-1 as the game moved into the latter innings with the Huskies putting a pair of runners on via a hit and error in the top of the seventh to no avail. Smith then retired the side in order in the seventh inning on just nine pitches for his final inning of work.
Cuff led off the bottom of the ninth with a double off reliever
Louis Castano, moving over to third on a bunt single by Giovanni Licciardi. Dane Watts then grounded into a double 6-4-3 double play that scored Cuff and tied the game. With two outs, Blaise Priester ended the night with a home run to left center on a 3-2 offering.
Smith turned in one of his best starts of the season, allowing just one earned run in seven innings of work on three this while striking out nine and walking four.
HCU ended the game with two runs on five hits with Castilleja going 2-for-4. Walker drove in both runs with Bard and Halligan each scoring.
The Huskies will be back on the field at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, May 15, in an elimination game against No. 4 seed Nicholls.
