HOUSTON –– Houston Christian University hosts Southeastern Louisiana University in a three-game series at Husky Field this weekend in a matchup of two of the fop four teams in the Southland Conference The series begins on Friday evening at 6:30 pm, followed by 2 pm starts on Saturday and Sunday.
HCU (22-17, 14-7 SLC) is coming off a 9-1 midweek loss at Baylor on Tuesday night. The Huskeis currently sit in fourth place in the league, two games behind Southeastern (31-10, 16-5) who is tied with McNeese at the top of the standings. HCU and SLU have met 29 times, with the Lions leading the all-time series 19-10. The Huskies took two of three in Hammond last year, winning 7-0 and 9-2 after dropping the opener 11-1.
Three players are batting over .300 for the Huskies thus far with Jack Walker leading the pack at .331. He leads the team in on-base percentage at .418, and is one of five players on the the squad with 20 or more RBI. Parker Edwards is batting .319 and leads the club in OPS (.936), slugging (.572), homers (8) and RBI (39). Kenneth Dutka rounds out the trio with a .312 batting average while pacing the team with 53 hits, 33 runs and 10 stolen bases.
Joshua Caravalho leads the pitching staff, ranking second in the SLC with his seven victories to go with a 4.47 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 58.1 innings. Parker Edwards is 1-2 on the season on the bump and leads the Huskies with 46 K’s in 49.1 innings. The relief corp is led by Louis Castano, who is second on the club in victories and strikeouts, and Ben Norton, who registers a 2.74 ERA and five saves.
Southeastern Louisiana hits Husky Field on the heels of a tough midweek loss at No.22 Southern Miss on Wednesday. The Lions are paced offensively by Dane Watts, who is fifth in the SLC in batting at .360 batting average, with Ryan Brome close behind at .355, seventh in the league. Brome leads the Lions in hits and is one of three players in double-digit long balls with 12 homers to go with his 36 RBI on the season. Conner O’Neal also has 12 home runs and leads the team with 45 RBI and TJ Salvaggio rounds out that power trio with 11 homers and 40 RBI.
On the hill, Brennan Stuprich leads the way for the Lions. He is 8-2 on the season with a 2.29 ERA, holding opponents to a .170 opponent batting average while fanning 92 in 66.2 innings. He is first in the league in victories, innings and strikeouts, and second in ERA. Blake Lobell is 5-1 with a 3.83 ERA for SLU, which boasts a 3.40 ERA as a club.
The series between HCU and SLU is one of two between the top four in the league. McNeese (28-8, 16-5 SLC) tied with Southeastern at the top, heads to the valley to take on third-place UTRGV (26-14, 17-7 SLC). In other series around the league, UIW is at A&M-Corpus Christi, New Orleans heads to Lamar and longtime rivals Northwestern State and SFA square off in Nacogdoches.
After the weekend, HCU will host Tarleton State at Husky Field on Tuesday night.
#DawgsUp
