HUSKIES SURGING
Houston Baptist eyeing a return to top of Southland.
After struggling with injuries last season, Houston Baptist is seeking a return to the NCAA tournament.
The Huskies, in their fourth year in the Southland Conference since transitioning from the NAIA level, made their first regional tourney after claiming their first Southland championship two years ago.
They took a big step toward their goal last weekend.
Southeastern Louisiana, the 2014 Southland champ who returned to the tournament championship game last year, entered their series 5-1 in conference — then lost three straight to the Huskies.
“They’ve been one of the top two teams the past three or four years, so it was a huge series for us,” coach Jared Moon said.
Ready for big time
The 2015 season was huge for the program.
The Huskies dropped nine
of 10 games in April and early May, then won two of their final three games before the tournament — where they went 4-0 with four complete games from their pitchers.
“That was huge,” Moon said.
“We struggled getting close to the tournament. We lost I don’t know how many in a row, but once the end of the season got here we started pitching a lot better, hitting with runners in scoring position, things like that. In the conference tournament we had four complete ballgames. I still don’t know if that’s ever been done or not. We just caught fire and were playing really well at that time.”
Houston Baptist found plenty of NAIA success, including a Great West crown in 2013, but their surprising run through the Southland tourney signaled they were ready for bigger and better things.
“It speaks volumes about what we’re capable of doing and how far we’ve come,” Moon said.
Step back in 2016
They regressed with injuries last season.
Houston Baptist lost No. 1 pitcher Matthew McCollough, who is petitioning the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility after Tommy John surgery, a week before the Southland opener, then lost its first baseman and left fielder the first week and its third baseman with a dislocated shoulder two weeks later.
The second baseman also missed two weeks, and several pitchers missed time.
“We never had our true lineup the entire year last year,” Moon said.
With a roster riddled with injuries, the Huskies missed the Southland tourney, finishing 24-29 overall and 1218 in conference.
Now they’re starting over with a handful of returning players.
“I knew we would pitch well (going in),” Moon said. “We’re a lot deeper on the mound. Defensively, we’re pretty strong up the middle.
“It’s just whether we’re going to hit or not.
“(But) we had a great weekend this past weekend. We swung the bats well, hit with runners on, runners in scoring position, whereas the weekend before we struggled doing that. So if we can continue to play at a high level like we did last weekend, we’ve got a chance of being pretty good.”
Working through slump
The Huskies started strong. They won two of their first three series, split a four-game series with Rhode Island and beat then-No. 25 Houston 3-2.
Then they went through a hitting slump that led to six consecutive losses.
Nicholls State handed them three straight setbacks to start conference play, winning 2-1, 3-1 and 3-2.
“It was brutal,” Moon said. “Our mental approaches, offensively, went south for a while.
“To Nicholls’ credit, they’ve got a pretty good pitching staff and they kept us in check, but we were getting guys in scoring position and not getting a lot of production out of the bottom part of the lineup.”
That all changed last week, with HBU racking up 18 runs on 26 hits in a three-game sweep of the Lions (8-7, 4-0, 6-3).
“We were much more aggressive,” Moon said.
“A lot of times we were getting a fastball in hitters’ counts and we weren’t pulling the trigger on it, at Nicholls.”
Bats coming along
Left fielder Spencer Halloran (.376 BA, three home runs, 19 RBIs) stayed hot, third baseman Austin Zillweger, from Atascocita, and first baseman Cary Jones, from Cypress Ranch, rediscovered their swings, and right fielder Brandon Brintz and designated hitter Matt Heck hit homers.
They supplied enough support for a solid pitching staff.
Lefthander Christian Thames, out of Barbers Hill, tossed a gem Saturday. He’s leading the staff with a 3-1 record and 2.79 ERA, but starters Addison Russ and Zach Carter are throwing well, too, and J.T. Newton in strong out of the bullpen, picking up a win and save over the weekend.
“Our rotation’s done very well,” Moon said.
First baseman/DH Jake Pulcheon and center fielder Zane Otten also play key roles.
Moon said if the Huskies continue finding consistency at the plate, they’ll have a shot at another Southland title.
Next up is hard-hitting Lamar on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Beaumont.
“They can swing it,” Moon said.
“Talking to other coaches, it’s all a matter of if the wind’s blowing in or out against them. They don’t do a lot offensively as far as bunting or hit-and-run, things like that, they just try to play gorilla ball and swing the crap out of it.”