HOUSTON – The Houston Christian Huskies claimed their second-ever Southland Baseball Tournament Title on Friday evening at Husky Field. 

It is their first title since 2015, when they made a run as the No. 7 seed to win the title. They return to the top under first-year head coach Clay VanderLaan. 

It was a slugfest on Friday as HCU held on for a 16-11 victory over the Privateers. Rhett Hendricks, Parker Edwards, and Jeremy Rader each drove in three runs.

The second inning was the Huskies calling all tournament long as they scored five runs in the second for a 6-0 lead and kept New Orleans at bay for the rest of the game. In the five tournament games, HCU scored 17 runs in the second inning alone and scored at least one in every contest. 

New Orleans continued to cut into the deficit all throughout the contest, getting it down to three in the fourth and eighth innings. However, the Huskies had a response each time. Ben Norton eventually closed the game out in the ninth to give the Huskies the title.

Kenneth Dutka and Parker each finished with three hits. Katcher Halligan and Hendricks each had a pair of hits. Tristan Moore of UNO had a monster evening with a three-run homer, a grand slam, and seven RBIs. 

Louis Castano earned the win in relief, while Norton picked up his ninth save.

The Huskies will find out their destination on the NCAA Baseball Tournament Selection Show slated for Monday. The Southland will also hope to hear the names of UTRGV and Southeastern as at-large selections.

All-Tournament Team
Parker Edwards, HCU (MVP)
Katcher Halligan, HCU
Jeremy Rader, HCU
Trevor Roper, HCU
Rhett Hendricks, HCU
Jack Walker, HCU
Louis Castano, HCU 
Bryce Calloway, New Orleans
Tristan Moore, New Orleans
Matt Gonzalez, New Orleans
Steven Oliva, UTRGV 
Samuel Stephenson, Northwestern State