HOUSTON – HCU dropped game one of a scheduled doubleheader at Husky Field, 5-3, on Saturday afternoon to visiting Lamar before a weather delay forced the game to be suspended in the middle of the first inning with play set to resume on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
In the first game, the Cardinals (28-23, 19-10 SLC) struck first in the top of the second with a Theo Kummer solo home run to left.
Jack Walker then led off the bottom half with a walk. He then stole second with one out before
Nico DeFazio drew a walk to put two runners on.
Anthony Avalos put the Huskies (21-27, 12-17 SLC) on the board with a single to left on a 1-2 count that scored Walker from second and evened the score.
Preston Curtis then drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases with just one out but HCU was unable to capitalize further.
Lamar regained the lead in the fourth, manufacturing a run with a leadoff walk, a single, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly to take a 2-1 lead. The Lamar advantage grew in the fifth with runners twice reaching second base with the baserunners each stealing third and scoring on throwing errors by catcher
Luke Bard. Lane Sparks then added a third run in the inning with an inside the park home run that bounced in front of a diving
Walker Bazile in center, skipping past him and allowing Sparks to come all the way around.
HCU put runners on the corners in the fifth thanks to singles off the bats of Bazile and
Katcher Halligan.
Jeremy Rader then brought Bazile home with a fielder's choice ground ball back to the pitcher, cutting the Huskies' deficit to 5-2. Avalos drove one deep to the left to lead off the bottom of the sixth but Lamar left fielder Brayden Evans elevated and robbed Avalos of the solo shot with a highlight reel catch. With two outs, Bazlie lofted one just over the fence down the line to right to pull the Huskies within two, 5-3. The Huskies went down in order in each of the final three innings.
Game two began with HCU starter
David Lopez pitching a scoreless top of the first inning before lightning forced a delay between innings. After a while, the decision was made to push the rest of the game to a 1:00 p.m. start time on Sunday, May 10, afternoon.
Jett Feltman was a hard-luck loser for the Huskies, allowing just two earned runs on three hits in four innings of work on the mound. At the plate, Bazile's homer was his second of the season as the senior went 2-for-4 at the plate, scoring twice. Halligan also went 2-for-4 in the game.
