Houston Christian Huskies baseball

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Houston Christian Huskies baseball
Baseball current event.svg 2024 Houston Christian Huskies baseball team
Houston Christian Huskies wordwark.png
Founded1964, [1] 1990
University Houston Christian University
Head coach Clay VanderLaan (1st season)
Conference Southland
Location Houston, Texas
Home stadium Husky Field
(Capacity: 500 [2] )
Nickname Huskies
ColorsRoyal blue and orange [3]
   
College World Series appearances
NAIA: 2007
NCAA Tournament appearances
2015
Conference tournament champions
NAIA:
NAIA District 8: 1969
Red River: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006
NCAA DI:
Great West: 2013
Southland: 2015
Regular season conference champions
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. [4] 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.

Contents

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. [5] Ray Zaragoza threw a seven-inning perfect game in the first game of a home doubleheader against Bishop College on April 27, 1968. [6]

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. [7] [8]

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. [9] [10] 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. [11] The location of HBC Diamond was directly northeast of Sharp Gym on what is now a Houston Christian University-owned shopping center. [12]

Houston Baptist Baseball played at nearby Bayland Park from 1990-1992. [13] [14] [15]

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. [16]

A Huskies baseball player during a 2022 game at Drayton McLane Baseball Stadium at John H. Kobs Field Austin Roccaforte 3.jpg
A Huskies baseball player during a 2022 game at Drayton McLane Baseball Stadium at John H. Kobs Field

Houston Christian career coaching records

CoachNumber
of
Seasons
Overall recordWinning
percentage
Coaching records
Rickey Witt329–119.196
Rusty Pendergrass5177–92.658
Brian Huddleston8305–143–1.680
Jared Moon 16401–441–2.476
Lance Berkman 347–104.311
Overall34959–899–3.516

(Records reflect game results through the conclusion of the 2023 season)

Year-by-year results

Information Source: [17]

Year-by-Year Results
YearCoachRecordConference RecordConferenceNotes
Junior College
Independent
1964Independent
1965Independent
NAIA
Independent
1966Independent
1967Independent
1968Independent
1969-Independent
NCAA College Division
Independent
1970Independent
NAIA
Independent
1990Rickey Witt4–40Independent
1991Rickey Witt11–40Independent
1992Rickey Witt14–39Independent
1993Rusty Pendergrass23–23Independent
1994Rusty Pendergrass39–16Independent
1995Rusty Pendergrass48–9Independent
Big State Conference
1996Rusty Pendergrass37–1815–0Big StateChampions
Independent
1997Rusty Pendergrass30–26Independent
1998Brian Huddleston26–26Independent
Red River Athletic Conference
1999Brian Huddleston40–1915–0 RRAC Regular season champions
tournament champions
2000Brian Huddleston43–1612–3RRACRegular season champions
tournament champions
2001Brian Huddleston34–239–0RRACRegular season champions
tournament champions
2002Brian Huddleston40–1712–0RRACRegular season champions
tournament champions
2003Brian Huddleston33–20–116–10–1RRAC2nd
2004Brian Huddleston41–1513–1RRACRegular season champions
tournament champions
2005Brian Huddleston48–714–0RRACRegular season champions
tournament champions
2006Jared Moon40–16–114–1RRACRegular season champions
tournament champions
2007Jared Moon44–2012–3RRACRegular season champions
NAIA World Series
NCAA Division I
Independent
2008Jared Moon23–24Independent
2009Jared Moon11–40Independent
Great West Conference
2010Jared Moon29–3115–13 Great West 3rd place regular season
2nd in Great West Tournament Pool 1
2011Jared Moon22–4016–12Great West3rd place regular season (T)
Great West Tournament finalist
2012Jared Moon28–3315–13Great West4th place regular season (T)
Great West Tournament finalist
2013Jared Moon34–20–117–10Great West2nd place Great West regular season (T)
Great West Tournament champion
Southland Conference
2014Jared Moon23–3812–18 Southland 10th place SLC regular season
2015Jared Moon28–2714–13Southland7th place SLC regular season, SLC Tournament champion
2016Jared Moon24–2912–18Southland10th place SLC regular season
2017Jared Moon29–2518–12Southland4th place SLC regular season, 3–2 SLC Tournament
2018Jared Moon29–3018–12Southland4th place SLC regular season, 3–2 SLC Tournament
2019Jared Moon18–3510–20Southland12th place SLC regular season
2020Jared Moon6–112–1SouthlandSeason cancelled due to Covid-19
2021 Jared Moon14–3811–27Southland13th place SLC regular season
2022 Lance Berkman 18–3611–13Southland6th of 8 SLC regular season
0-2 SLC Tournament [18]
2023 Lance Berkman11–377–16Southland9th of 9 SLC regular season [19]
2024 Lance Berkman18—319—15Southland9th of 9 SLC regular season

Postseason

Conference Tournaments

Sources: [20] [21]

YearHead coachRecord %Notes
Conference Tournament Results
NAIA District 8
1969 [a] Lonnie Richards [22] 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 [23] Jared Moon3-2.600Consolation Rounds
2018 [24] Jared Moon3-2.600Consolation Rounds
2022 [25] Lance Berkman0-2.000First Round
Total43–10.81114 Appearances

NCAA Division I Tournament results

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

YearRoundOpponentResult/Score
NCAA Division I Tournament Results
2015 First Round
Second Round
Houston
Rice
L 4–6
L 1–3

Source: [8]

NAIA World Series results

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

YearRoundOpponentResult/Score
NAIA World Series
2007First Round
Second Round
Third Round
Fourth Round
Fifth Round
Lindenwood (Mo)
Cumberland (Tenn)
Walsh
Azusa Pacific
Lewis-Clark State
L 4–18
W 5–2
W 10–5
W 5–1
L 7–8

Source: [26]

Major League Baseball

Houston Christian has had 8 Major League Baseball Draft selections since the draft began in 1965. [27]

Notes

  1. Houston Baptist competed as an NAIA Independent team in 1969.

See also

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References

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