Stephen F. Austin
Texas Tech
SFA Falls in Extra Innings on Opening Day
2/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 3, 2007
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks and Texas Tech Red Raiders were finally able to get their 2007 baseball seasons underway Saturday afternoon. The `Jacks had a 3-0 lead going into the seventh inning and lost, 4-3, in 11 innings. It was the first time in both schools' histories that the opening day game went into extra innings.
Chris Smith led off the `Jacks' fifth inning with a home run to left center to put SFA up on the board first. Then, in the sixth inning, Kevin Crabtree led off with a single to first base and crossed the plate when Steven Hill hit a double off the center field wall. Smith then grabbed his second RBI of the afternoon with Hill scored on Smith's double down the left field line to put the `Jacks up by three.
SFA's starting pitcher, Erich Lehmann, did not give up a hit until late in the sixth inning and then gave up back-to-back home runs in the top of the seventh to put the Raiders within one. Reliever Heath Konesheck then gave up the tying run in the eighth.
Both teams went without a hit in the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings.
In the bottom of the 11th inning, Richard Folmer, after getting the lead-off hitter to hit a fly ball to center field, walked the second and third batters of the inning. The next batter hit a single through the right side to score the winning run.
Lehmann threw six innings of work, giving up three hits and two runs while striking out five. Tech's starter Colt Hynes gave up six hits and three runs with four strike outs in six innings pitched. AJ Ramos got the win for the Red Raiders while Folmer suffered the loss.
For SFA, Smith finished the game going 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI.
The `Jacks and Red Raiders will face off Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The third game of the series has been cancelled.
-SFA-
