Stephen F. Austin
Houston Baptist
SFA Squeezes Out Win Over Huskies
2/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 26, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Gabriel Garcia-Serrano and Kai Kirby executed a suicide squeeze to perfection in the bottom of the ninth on Tuesday to take a 9-8 win over Houston Baptist in the home opener at Jaycees Field.
The Huskies (6-5) had not been on the field since Feb. 12, and trailed 8-5 heading into a ninth inning that looked like might not be finished due to darkness; however, after a Ryan Majewski walk, pinch hitter Brian Franze took Jonathan Gutierrez deep over the left-center field wall to bring HBU back within a run. After that SFA head coach Donnie Watson wasted no time in going to his stopper, Richard Folmer, but he was instantly greeted on his first pitch by Andrew Taccolini's fourth home run of the season to nearly the same location as Franze's, tying the score at eight apiece.
Folmer would then settle down and get out of the inning, setting the stage with a setting sun on the bottom of the ninth. With one out Adam Bosley made his first plate appearance of the game after entering the game for defensive purposes in the top half of the inning and answered the call with a solid single to right. Kirby would then come in to pinch run, and stole second on the first pitch from Husky reliever Jordan Hook to get in scoring position. He would advance to third when Jeff Brewer reached via error by the shortstop, and then Garcia-Serrano was able to drop down a perfect bunt just to the third-base side of the mound that Hook could not field as Kirby raced home with the winning run.
It seemed as though SFA was going to cruise to the win in the early stages of the game, as it took a 3-0 lead through two innings in freshman Jared West's first career start; however, West would lose command in the top of the third, surrendering a leadoff walk followed by back-to-back doubles that led to an early hook from Watson.
Erich Lehmann then entered, and after giving up an RBI double off of the left-field wall to the first batter he saw, Lehmann quickly settled down to deliver the best outing by a Lumberjack pitcher this year. The savvy junior was in line to pick up his 18th career win after going six innings - with eight strikeouts and no walks on his line - and leaving after the eighth with that 8-5 lead.
Jeff Brewer reached base in all five of his plate appearances, picking up a career-best four hits in the process. Overall, the `Jacks racked up 16 hits off of Husky pitching as they scored at least six runs for the fourth consecutive game. Zach Gardner and Kevin Crabtree each tallied three hits, with Crabtree notching a trio of RBI.
Despite surrendering the ninth-inning lead, Richard Folmer evened his record at 1-1 while Kevin Brunson took the loss for the Huskies.
SFA and HBU will finish off the two-game set on Wednesday, with an earlier start time set for 2:30 p.m from Jaycees Field.
