'Jacks Face Busy Week
3/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 29, 2006
The Lumberjacks will look to put an end to their recent five-game skid today when it face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a doubleheader. The first game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. from Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas. The two-game series against the Islanders was originally scheduled to begin Tuesday, but had to be postponed due to inclement weather. The Lumberjacks will return to Southland Conference action Friday when they return to Nacogdoches to host Texas-Arlington in a three-game series. Friday's game against the league-leading Mavericks is slated to get underway at 2 p.m. Both the Saturday and Sunday games will begin at 1 p.m. Freshman Richard Folmer is scheduled to take the mound Friday, followed by classmate Sammy Hardwick on Saturday. Junior Brian Steinocher is scheduled to take the hill on Sunday for the 'Jacks. All three games will be played at Jaycees Field.
SFA vs. the Islanders Tuesday's game between the Lumberjacks and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will be the first meeting between the two schools on the baseball diamond.
SFA vs. the Mavericks The Lumberjacks are 4-19 (.174) all-time against Texas-Arlington, and have lost four of the last five meetings between the two schools. The 'Jacks' last victory was an 11-1 decision during in 1994.
A Grand First Junior Chase Sadler recorded a first for the Lumberjack baseball team at Louisiana-Monroe. Sadler hit a grand slam against the Indians, which marked his first grand slam in a Lumberjack uniform and the team's first since its return to the diamond.
Offensive Onslaught The Lumberjack baseball team broke out of its offensive slump in at Louisiana-Monroe in a big way. The 'Jacks scored 25 runs at Louisiana-Monroe, including a season-high 15 in the second game of the series. Six 'Jacks drove in a run in the game, led by Steven Hill's team-high five. Hill, along with junior Chase Sadler, hit a home run in the game.
Making the Start Freshman Richard Folmer made the first start of his SFA career Sunday at Lamar. The 6-3 Houston, Texas, product pitched 4.2 innings, surrendering only two hits and two runs, both unearned. Folmer struck out two Cardinals on the afternoon.
Over the Hill Junior catcher Steven Hill is among the Southland Conference leaders in several offensive categories. Hill currently leads the conference with a .667 slugging percentage, is second in the league in home runs (7), is ninth in on-base percentage (.434), tied for fifth in runs batted in (24), tied for fifth in doubles (9), tied for sixth in total bases (56) and fourth in walks (19).
Playing Hard-Ball Freshman pitcher Sammy Hardwick has spent the majority of the season coming out of the Lumberjack bullpen where he has been utilized as the team's closer. Hardwick has recorded both of the Lumberjacks' saves on the season. Hardwick was given an opportunity to start against Nicholls State and took full advantage of the opportunity. Hardwick pitched nine innings, surrendering only two hits, two runs and two walks, while striking out eight in the no-decision. Classmate Erich Lehmann came on and pitched a scoreless 10th inning of work to pick up the victory.
Numbers Watch Junior Steven Hill is approaching some SFA all-time and single-season top-10 marks, despite being only halfway through his first season at SFA. Hill is currently tied for the sixth-best single season mark in home runs with seven. He neds only five more runs batted in to move onto the school's single-season RBI top-10 list. Hill needs only three more home runs to move onto the school's all-time top-10 list in that category.
On Deck ... SFA will be back in action Tuesday April 4th, when they travel to Dallas for their third and final game against Dallas Baptist. The game against DBU is slated to begin at 6 p.m. SFA will then travel to Lake Charles, La., Friday to open a three-game series against McNeese State. Friday's game against the Cowboys is slated to begin at 7 p.m. from Cowboy Diamond.
