UTA Stops 'Jacks Streak At Nine
5/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 10, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Texas-Arlington Mavericks had 13 singles out of their 15 hits on the day and used a six-run eighth inning to push past SFA 13-5 on Saturday, bringing the Lumberjacks' nine-game win streak to a halt.
The Mavs (22-28, 13-13) had dropped eight of their last 10 games entering the contest, but scored six runs in the first two innings off of `Jacks starter Erik Gregersen to grab an early lead that they would not give back.
SFA (23-26, 10-15) still trails both UTA and Southeastern Louisiana for the final two spots in the SLC Tournament.
Gregersen couldn't follow up arguably his best start of the season last week against Texas State with a quality start against the Mavs, only going 1 2/3 innings to drop his record to 2-3 on the year. Ryan Martin entered in relief of starter Nathan Long for UTA, and shut the `Jacks out over the final 5 2/3 to get his first win of the season.
Freshman Michael Choice smashed a two-run home run in the first to give UTA an early lead before they used four singles and an error on SFA to score four more runs in the second. Erich Lehmann then came in out of the bullpen for SFA and got the final out of the second to start a string of 13 consecutive batters retired to begin his outing.
Lehmann's efforts kept UTA at bay and gave SFA a chance to catch up against Long, who finally surrendered a pair of runs in the second. Zach Gardner started the frame off with a one-out single, followed by a pair of singles from Jeff Brewer and Kai Kirby. Kirby's was good enough to score Gardner from third, and Brewer came in to score when Long's failed pickoff attempt of Kirby at first base hit the right-field fence to make the score 6-2.
Kevin Crabtree, who finished just a triple away from the cycle in his first three at-bats, mashed his sixth home run in eight games in the fourth inning - a three-run shot - to pull SFA within one run and knock Long out of the game in favor of Martin.
However, Lehmann continued to impress for SFA until being lifted in the seventh inning after allowing a run. Heath Konesheck got the final out of the frame, and started off the eighth inning before the wheels came off for the `Jacks.
UTA had six singles in the inning, while the `Jacks used four pitchers before finally getting out of the inning. Koneshcek gave up a pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt before Richard Folmer came in out of the pen, but Ryan Davis and Brock Wilson each had singles sandwiched around Jay Pitschka being hit by a pitch and the Mavs already had a pair of runs in before Bruce Mayberry entered.
Then, with the score 9-5, David McLeod took Mayberry into left field for a 2-RBI single that put the game out of reach. A throwing error and another RBI by Choice gave the Mavs a 13-5 margin, enough to keep it in cruise control on their way to the finish line.
SFA and UTA will conclude their series on Sunday beginning at 1:00. The game will also serve as Senior Day for the `Jacks as they will honor their eight seniors before the contest. The game can be heard live on KSFA 860 AM, or followed via Gametracker at www.sfajacks.com.
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