EDINBURG, Texas – A three-run eighth inning put HCU ahead for good as the Huskies nailed down a 4-2 win over UTRGV at UTRGV Baseball Stadium to advance to the Southland Conference Championship Series next week at Husky Field against New Orleans. The Huskies won three straight games to win the Edinburg bracket as the No. 6 seed.
The host Vaqueros jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead, taking advantage of a pair of HCU errors to score an unearned run. The Huskies then put two runners on in the bottom of the second thanks to a pair of walks. Trevor Roper came up with a single through the left side with one out that scored Matthew Leiterman from second and even things up, 1-1.
The next three innings moved swiftly before UTRGV threatened in the top of the sixth. The Vaqueros put to of their first three batters on base, prompting a pitching change to Louis Castano in relief of starter Jett Feltman. A single loaded the bases with one out but Castano struck out the next batter before inducing a groundout for out number three and to keep things tied.
Easton Moomau led off the eighth with a ground-rule double, moving over to third on a groundout and scoring on a single off the bat of Thomas Williams, putting UTRGV ahead, 2-1
Luke Bard was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the eighth, scoring three pitches later when Katcher Halligan drove a triple to deep right center for his fifth extra-base hit of the tournament.
Parker Edwards then drew a pinch-hit walk with Ayden Slott coming in to pinch run. Slott stole second, giving HCU two runners in scoring position. Jeremy Rader continued his strong weekend, poking a single up the middle to score two and put the Huskies in the lead, 4-2.
Castano then shut the door in the ninth, striking out the first two hitters and getting a groundout to short to finish it off.
Castano earned the win and improved to 6-1 on the year with 3.2 inning pitched while allowing just one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts and zero walks.
UTRGV had defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi earlier in the day, 10-4, behind two home runs from Player of the Year Armani Raygoza.
The win gives the Huskies their first 30-win season since 2013 when HCU went 34-24-1 and won the Great West Conference tournament championship. Next week's championship series will also mark the first time HCU has hosted a conference postseason game since 2007 when the Huskies won the NAIA Region VI Tournament en route to a spot in the NAIA World Series.
This is the first time HCU will play in the Southland Championship Series and the second time they have ever played in a baseball championship game, winning the tournament title in 2015 over Sam Houston in Sugar Land. The Huskies entered that season as the No. 7 seed.
The Huskies will take on No. 8 seed New Orleans at Husky Field for a chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament in a three-game series. Game 1 will take place on Thursday, May 22, at 6:00 p.m., with Game 2 occurring on Friday, May 23, at 6:00 p.m., and the third game taking place on Saturday, May 24, at 6:00 p.m., if necessary.