Houston Christian Huskies baseball explained

Current:2024 Houston Christian Huskies baseball team
Houston Christian Huskies
Founded:1964,[1] 1990
University:Houston Christian University
Conference:Southland
Location:Houston, Texas
Coach:Clay VanderLaan
Tenure:1st
Stadium:Husky Field
Capacity:500[2]
Nickname:Huskies
Cws:NAIA: 2007
Ncaa Tourneys:2015
Conference Tournament:NAIA:
NAIA District 8: 1969
Red River: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006
NCAA DI:
Great West: 2013
Southland: 2015
Conference Champion:NAIA:
Big State: 1997
Red River: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

The Houston Christian Huskies baseball team, known as the Houston Baptist Huskies until 2022, is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Houston Christian University in Houston, Texas, United States.[3] The team is a member of the Southland Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The team plays its home games at Husky Field in Houston, Texas. The Huskies are currently coached by Clay VanderLaan.

History

The Huskies baseball team's first stint was from 1964-1970. The team was idle from 1971 to 1989 before returning in the spring of 1990, competing in the sport in every season since.

NAIA years

The Huskies competed at the NAIA level from 1966 to 1969 and again from 1990 to 2007. The team played as an NAIA independent twelve of those seasons (1966-1969, 1990-1996, and 1998). They also competed in the Big State conference for one season (1997) winning the conference championship. The Huskies competed in the Red River Athletic Conference for the final nine seasons (1999–2007) as an NAIA member winning the RRAC conference championship eight of the nine seasons (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) and the RRAC conference tournament championship seven times (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 1969, the Huskies played in the 1969 NAIA Area II Area Tournament, going 1-2.[4] Ray Zaragoza threw a seven-inning perfect game in the first game of a home doubleheader against Bishop College on April 27, 1968.[5]

NCAA Division I years

In 2008, Houston Baptist transitioned to Division I (NCAA) competing as an independent for the first two seasons at the Division I level. From 2010 to 2013, the Huskies competed in the Great West Conference winning the conference tournament championship in 2013. The team was a finalist in the 2011 and 2012 conference tournaments. Houston Baptist University became a member of the Southland Conference before the start of the 2013–14 season. The Huskies won the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament in their second season as an SLC member. In winning the tournament, the Huskies won the SLC auto-bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The 2015 NCAA Division I baseball tournament marked the Huskies' first appearance in the tournament.[6] [7]

Facilities

The Huskies (known as the Spartans prior to the conclusion of the 1965 season) split their 1965 home games between Andy Anderson Field in Memorial Park and the new HBC Diamond.[8] [9] HBC Diamond was the home for Houston Baptist Baseball until the program's first stint ended in 1970 and part of right field became the site of a then-future shopping center.[10] The location of HBC Diamond was directly northeast of Sharp Gym on what is now a Houston Christian University-owned shopping center.[11]

Houston Baptist Baseball played at nearby Bayland Park from 1990-1992.[12] [13] [14]

The Huskies opened Husky Field in 1993 and continue to play at the venue as of 2024. Construction began on a 7,200 square-foot indoor training facility behind the right field line in September 2022 which has since been completed.[15]

Houston Christian career coaching records

Coach Number
of
Seasons
Overall record Winning
percentage
Coaching records
Rickey Witt 3 29–119 .196
Rusty Pendergrass5 177–92 .658
Brian Huddleston 8305–143–1 .680
16 401–441–2
3 47–104
Overall 34 959–899–3
(Records reflect game results through the conclusion of the 2023 season)

Year-by-year results

Information Source:[16]

Year-by-Year Results
YearCoachRecordConference RecordConferenceNotes
Junior College
Independent
1964 Independent
1965 Independent
NAIA
Independent
1966 Independent
1967 Independent
1968 Independent
1969 -Independent
NCAA College Division
Independent
1970 Independent
NAIA
Independent
1990 Rickey Witt 4–40 Independent
1991 Rickey Witt 11–40 Independent
1992 Rickey Witt 14–39 Independent
1993 Rusty Pendergrass 23–23 Independent
1994 Rusty Pendergrass 39–16 Independent
1995 Rusty Pendergrass 48–9 Independent
Big State Conference
1996 Rusty Pendergrass 37–18 15–0 Big State Champions
Independent
1997 Rusty Pendergrass 30–26 Independent
1998 Brian Huddleston 26–26 Independent
Red River Athletic Conference
1999 Brian Huddleston 40–19 15–0 Regular season champions
tournament champions
2000 Brian Huddleston 43–16 12–3 RRAC Regular season champions
tournament champions
2001 Brian Huddleston 34–23 9–0 RRAC Regular season champions
tournament champions
2002 Brian Huddleston 40–17 12–0 RRAC Regular season champions
tournament champions
2003 Brian Huddleston 33–20–1 16–10–1 RRAC 2nd
2004 Brian Huddleston 41–15 13–1 RRAC Regular season champions
tournament champions
2005 Brian Huddleston 48–7 14–0 RRAC Regular season champions
tournament champions
2006 Jared Moon 40–16–1 14–1 RRAC Regular season champions
tournament champions
2007 Jared Moon 44–20 12–3 RRAC Regular season champions
NAIA World Series
NCAA Division I
Independent
2008 Jared Moon 23–24 Independent
2009 Jared Moon 11–40 Independent
Great West Conference
2010 Jared Moon 29–31 15–13 3rd place regular season
2nd in Great West Tournament Pool 1
2011 Jared Moon 22–40 16–12 Great West 3rd place regular season (T)
Great West Tournament finalist
2012 Jared Moon 28–33 15–13 Great West 4th place regular season (T)
Great West Tournament finalist
2013 Jared Moon 34–20–1 17–10 Great West 2nd place Great West regular season (T)
Great West Tournament champion
Southland Conference
2014 Jared Moon 23–38 12–18 10th place SLC regular season
2015 Jared Moon 28–27 14–13 Southland 7th place SLC regular season, SLC Tournament champion
2016 Jared Moon 24–29 12–18 Southland 10th place SLC regular season
2017 Jared Moon 29–25 18–12 Southland 4th place SLC regular season, 3–2 SLC Tournament
2018 Jared Moon 29–30 18–12 Southland 4th place SLC regular season, 3–2 SLC Tournament
2019 Jared Moon 18–35 10–20 Southland 12th place SLC regular season
2020 Jared Moon 6–11 2–1 Southland Season cancelled due to Covid-19
Jared Moon 14–38 11–27 Southland 13th place SLC regular season
18–36 11–13 Southland 6th of 8 SLC regular season
0-2 SLC Tournament [17]
Lance Berkman 11–37 7–16 Southland 9th of 9 SLC regular season [18]
Lance Berkman 18—31 9—15 Southland 9th of 9 SLC regular season

Postseason

Conference Tournaments

Sources:[19] [20]

Year Head coach Record % Notes
Conference Tournament Results
NAIA District 8
1969Lonnie Richards[21] 1–01.000Champion
Red River Athletics Conference
1999Brian Huddleston4–01.000Tournament champion
2000Brian Huddleston4–1.800Tournament champion
2001Brian Huddleston4–01.000Tournament champion
2002Brian Huddleston4–01.000Tournament champion
2003Brian Huddleston2–2.5003rd Round
2004Brian Huddleston4–01.000Tournament champion
2005Brian Huddleston4–01.000Tournament champion
2006Brian Huddleston4–01.000Tournament champion
2007Brian Huddleston2–1.6673rd Round
Southland Conference
2015Jared Moon4–01.000Tournament champion
2017[22] Jared Moon3-2.600Consolation Rounds
2018[23] Jared Moon3-2.600Consolation Rounds
2022[24] Lance Berkman0-2.000First Round
Total43–1014 Appearances

NCAA Division I Tournament results

The Huskies have competed in one NCAA Division I baseball tournament with a record of 0–2.

Source:

NAIA World Series results

The Huskies participated in the 2007 NAIA World Series with a record of 3–2.

Source:[25]

Major League Baseball

Houston Christian has had 8 Major League Baseball Draft selections since the draft began in 1965.[26]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Saint Thomas Beats Houston Baptist, 12-5. March 20, 1964. The Houston Post. 50. February 17, 2024. genealogybank.com.
  2. Web site: 2014 HBU Baseball Media Guide. Houston Baptist University Athletics. December 27, 2014 . 1, 68.
  3. Web site: Houston Baptist Huskies. d1baseball.com. July 17, 2013.
  4. Web site: May 31, 1969. Grand Canyon Wins, 8-3. Arizona Republic. 62. February 17, 2024. newspapers.com.
  5. Web site: Zaragoza Hurls Perfect Game as HBC Wins Pair. April 28, 1968. The Houston Post. 84. April 12, 2024. genealogybank.com.
  6. Web site: 2015 HBU Huskies Baseball. HBU Athletic Department. April 3, 2015. 49–74.
  7. Web site: Melissa Cebold. Houston Baptist wins first Southland Baseball Championship. SportsNOLA.com. May 24, 2015. May 23, 2015.
  8. Web site: Spartans Down Allen in 11th. March 23, 1965. The Houston Post. 41. February 17, 2024. genealogybank.com.
  9. Web site: Baptists Winners over Saint Thomas. May 8, 1965. The Houston Post. 44. February 17, 2024. genealogybank.com.
  10. Web site: Huskies Drop Baseball Team. October 4, 1970. Houston Chronicle. 42. February 17, 2024. genealogybank.com.
  11. Web site: Houston Baptist College. Houston Baptist College Bulletin of Information 1968-1969 (Volume VI, Number 1). 1968. 9. February 17, 2024. hc.edu.
  12. Web site: (Sports) Calendar. February 14, 1990. The Houston Post. 34. April 11, 2024. genealogybank.com.
  13. Web site: (Sports) Update. February 27, 1991. Houston Chronicle. 44. April 12, 2024. genealogybank.com.
  14. Web site: (Sports) Calendar. February 19, 1992. The Houston Post. 31. April 12, 2024. genealogybank.com.
  15. Web site: Houston Christian Athletics Department. BSB: HBU Begins Construction on Phase One at Husky Field. September 12, 2022. February 17, 2024. hcuhuskies.com.
  16. Web site: HBU Baseball. Houston Baptist University Athletics. February 9, 2021. 172–180.
  17. https://www.southland.org/standings.aspx?standings=102 2022 Baseball Standings
  18. https://www.southland.org/standings.aspx?standings=113 2023 Baseball Standings
  19. Web site: RRAC Baseball Tournament Results. Red River Athletics Conference. May 24, 2015.
  20. Web site: Huskies Halt AC to Take NAIA Title. May 11, 1969. The Houston Post. 29. February 17, 2024. genealogybank.com.
  21. Web site: HBC to Play 4 Houston Teams. January 17, 1969. The Houston Post. 46. February 17, 2024. genealogybank.com.
  22. Web site: 2017 . 2017 Baseball Schedule - Houston Christian University Athletics .
  23. Web site: 2018 . 2018 Baseball Schedule - Houston Christian University Athletics .
  24. Web site: Houston Christian Athletics Department. 2022 Baseball Schedule. 2022. hcuhuskies.com.
  25. Web site: 59th Annual Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series – May 22–29. May 24, 2015. 47.
  26. Web site: MLB Amateur Draft Picks who came from "Houston Baptist University (Houston, TX)". Baseball-Reference.com. June 13, 2015.