Houston, Texas – The Houston Christian University Huskies claimed a pair of one-run wins against the Le Moyne College baseball team on Sunday at Husky Field.
HCU claimed a 1-0 win in game one of Sunday's doubleheader, then they bested the Dolphins by a score of 7-6 in the series finale. Both contests were seven innings.
Le Moyne outscored the Huskies by a combined tally of 20-16 on the weekend, but HCU won three of the four games in walk-off fashion. The Dolphins won game two of the series in extra innings by a score of 11-4
Game One:
Junior left-handed pitcher
Jacob Crystal (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) made his first start of the season during game one of the doubleheader, allowing three hits, five walks and zero runs with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work.
First baseman
Dewey Roden (Sherrill, N.Y./Vernon-Verona-Sherrill/UMass Lowell), catcher
Benji Ries (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson), shortstop
Nick Nevins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), right fielder
Wyatt Patchett (Geneva, N.Y./Geneva), and second baseman
Mike Whelehan (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton) each recorded a hit for the Dolphins.
Le Moyne loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the first, but HCU starting pitcher Rye Gunter got a ground ball fielder's choice to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.
Nevins led off the top of the seventh with a single to right field, and advanced to second on a wild pitch with one out, but HCU relief pitcher Nicholas Willard retired the next two hitters to end the inning, and was credited with the win after catcher Dylan LaRue recorded a walk-off single through the right side of the infield in the bottom of the seventh.
Game Two:
The Dolphins drew 12 walks in game two, the most walks that they have drawn in a game since the 2021 season, while Le Moyne pitchers Roden and
Max Danaher (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayettevill-Manlius) allowed just one walk during the contest.
Roden made his first pitching appearance since the 2021 season and allowed five hits, one walk and two earned runs with three strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work. Freshman left-hander Danaher completed 2.1 innings in relief.
Brody Keneston recorded the only hit of the game for Le Moyne, which was a two-RBI single to left field in the sixth inning which trimmed Le Moyne's deficit to 6-3.
The Huskies established a 6-0 lead after five innings, but Le Moyne scored four in the sixth with the help of Keneston's single, a sacrifice fly from left fielder
Jason Boule (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy (Syracuse)), and a passed ball that allowed third baseman
Adam Sullivan (Syracuse, N.Y./Marcellus) to cross the plate.
Danaher delivered a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth, then Le Moyne added two more runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game.
Patchett and right fielder
Michael Rockwell (Liverpool, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse), who each scored a team-high two runs during the setback, led off the top of the seventh with back-to-back walks, then they each advanced a base on wild pitch, and pinch hitter
Zach Brush (New York Mills, N.Y./Utica Notre Dame) drew a walk to load the bases.
Whelehan drove in Patchett with a ground ball to the right side, and Rockwell scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the inning to tie the game at 6-6.
Houston Christian shortstop Ty Hodge led off the bottom of the seventh with a single through the left side, then he advanced all the way to third on a throwing error during the next at bat.
With a man on third and nobody out, second baseman Trevor Roper lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Huskies their third walk-off win of the series.
The Le Moyne baseball team will play their second of three non-conference weekend series at Radford from February 23-25. The Dolphins and the Highlanders will play single games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Radford, Virginia.
