By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Good evening, all. Here is the first of four graphic stories on each of the teams in this week’s NCAA Austin Regional baseball tournament. We’ll start with the fourth-seeded Houston Christian Huskies, with information to come on the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats, the No. 2 UTSA Roadrunners and the No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
Houston Christian Huskies
Record: 32-23
Record in conference: 17-13, sixth in the Southland Conference
Seed in the Austin Regional: Fourth
Opener: The Huskies will take on the top-seeded Texas Longhorns at 1 p.m. Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
NCAA baseball history, highlights: The Huskies are making only their second trip to the NCAA tournament. In 2015, they played in Houston and lost to the top-seeded Houston Cougars 6-4 before they were eliminated by No. 2 Rice, 3-1.
Journey to the Austin Regional: Last summer, HCU promoted Clay VanderLaan from assistant to head coach following the resignation of Lance Berkman. Under Berkman, a former Houston Astros star who grew up in New Braunfels, the Huskies struggled for three seasons with a combined record of 47-104, including 27-44 in conference. Three weeks after Berkman departed, HCU offered the job to VanderLaan, who had limited experience at the collegiate level, working previously at Division II Saginaw Valley State and for a little more than one season at the NAIA University of St. Thomas in Houston. Since then, VanderLaan has stepped up to the Division I challenge, taking the Huskies to their first winning season in eight years. HCU won its last six games, including a Parker Edwards-led 5-0 sweep in the SLC postseason, to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Included in the run were two wins in Edinburg at UT Rio Grande Valley, a top 40 RPI team, and the last two in Houston against the University of New Orleans.
Top players: Multi-talented Parker Edwards earned MVP honors in the SLC tournament by starting and winning two games as a pitcher. Edwards also contributed as a hitter, lashing three hits and driving in three runs in a 16-11 title-clinching victory over New Orleans. Second-team, all-SLC outfielder Rhett Hendricks did his part with three RBI combined in the two wins over the Privateers. Other threats at the plate include Jack Walker, Kenneth Dutka and Matthew Leiterman. Edwards leads the team in both home runs (9) and RBI (47).
Pitching: Edwards, Joshua Caravalho and Ben Smith are HCU’s primary starters. Edwards is 3-4 with a 3.93 earned run average and leads the team with 84 and 2/3 innings. Caravalho is 9-3 and Smith 4-6. Ben Norton, with a 2.93 ERA. leads the relief corps with 25 appearances out of the bullpen.
Did you know: The UTSA brother duo of Ty and Nathan Hodge decommitted from HCU after Berkman’s resignation and elected to sign with the Roadrunners.
More history: Founded in the 1960, the school formerly known as Houston Baptist University played sports at the NCAA level from 1967 to 1990, including a run of 16 years in Division I through 1989. Following its initial run in the NCAA, the school aligned with the NAIA and remained at that lower level for 17 years. After re-entering NCAA Division I in 2011, HCU elected to join the Southland Conference for the 2013-14 season.