Former Cajuns’ Pitcher Makes Huskies a Threat

Houston Baptist is the #4 seed in the Houston Regional and got an automatic bid after going unbeaten as the #7 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament.

If you think that's an automatic recipe for a quick exit from the regional at Cougar Park this weekend, you just might be mistaken.

These guys can pitch. And any team that can pitch is dangerous.

Their domination in the Southland Tournament was pretty extraordinary. They played four games, used four pitchers who all threw complete games.

And allowed a grand total of ONE earned run.

Their success can put a smile on the face of Cajuns' fans. Their pitching coach, Xavier Hernandez, is one of the all time great pitchers in Cajuns' history. "X" and UL coach Tony Robichaux were teammates on the 1984 club.

Matthew McCollough (8-2, 2.55) is the ace of the staff and, oh, by the way, he's already beaten Houston this year. Taylor Wright (8-6, 2.99 and Curtis Jones (6-6 3.99) are the other two starters. The three have combined to throw eight complete games this season. Matt Harding (1-1, 0.74, 24.1 inn), Ross Kennell (2-0, 0.23, 38.2) and Dylan Zarosky (0-2, 3 sv., 2.95) are formidable in the pen. And, this pitching staff has walked only 114 batters all season.

Houston Baptist doesn't score a lot of runs, but they can swing it a little The Huskies starting nine all hit .256 or better and five are hitting over .300 in a pitching-rich league. HBU, however, scores fewer than five runs per contest.

The Huskies are definitely the underdogs. But those pitchers give them a chance to win.

Call it the tournament's "X" factor