Stephen F. Austin
Houston
Early Mistakes Cost `Jacks In Home Opener
2/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 24, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The `Jacks baseball team outhit the Houston Cougars 11-8 , but could not overcome allowing seven runs in the first two innings, and its late rally fell up just short as the Cougars defeated SFA, 7-5, on Tuesday in the `Jacks home opener.
With Ryan Priest making his first appearance on the mound for SFA (1-3), the `Jacks committed three errors in the first inning and the Cougars (2-2) took advantage by scoring four runs and added three more in the third to provide just enough cushion for the win.
SFA got solid work out of its bullpen as Jeremy Tamez and Chris Court kept the Cougars scoreless from the sixth inning on, giving SFA the chance to come back. Things looked promising after SFA scored three in the bottom of the sixth and it looked as though it might complete the comeback in the bottom of the ninth, but with runners on the corners and two outs, Cougars reliever Matt Wright got Sean Meyers to fly out to shallow center field to end the game.
Priest took the loss, going five innings and allowing six earned runs. Wright got his first save for the Cougars, while Michael Goodnight earned his first win in his first career appearance after going 5.1 innings and allowing only a pair of runs.
SFA committed all three of their errors for the game in the first frame, starting on the second pitch of the game when Blake Kelso singled to left and Justin Long mishandled the ball allowing Kelso to move to second. One pitch later Priest hurt his own cause by misfiring on a sacrifice bunt and putting runners at the corners with nobody out. Chase Dempsay then got Houston on the board with an RBI groundout. The Cougars then added two more on a single from William Kankel and scored again when SFA could not turn an inning-ending double play with Gabriel Garcia-Serrano firing the relay throw into the Houston dugout to continue the inning.
After a perfect second inning, Priest got into trouble again by walking Chris Wallace on four straight pitches and allowing a single to Caleb Ramsey one batter later. It then looked as though he would make it out of the inning when Kankel flied out, but David Murphy delivered a two-out RBI with a single, followed by Taylor White's two-run double for a 7-0 lead in what was starting to look like a Cougar runaway.
However, that was when the SFA pitching staff started to settle down with Priest working a scoreless fourth and fifth innings, and Tamez working past a pair of leadoff singles to throw a shutout sixth inning. The `Jacks then finally got some offense going in the sixth after Goodnight allowed only two baserunners through the first five frames. Tanner Hines started things with a one-out single, followed by a Bo Coffman walk. Hines then swiped third to set up Meyers' 2-RBI single. He moved to second on a wild pitch one batter later before crossing home on another errant pitch by Matt Taylor with two outs. The `Jacks nearly scored again with two outs, but Joe Staley was gunned down at the plate by Zak Presley to end the inning after a pinch-hit single by Trent Blanchard.
Neither team could get on the board after that as Court was near perfect in his stint on the mound, throwing three no-hit innings to get the `Jacks to the ninth down 7-3.
Thomas Staley then opened the offense with a pinch-hit, leadoff single in the ninth, followed by Gabriel Garcia-Serrano's second hit of the day two hitters later. That prompted Houston head coach Rayner Noble to go to the bullpen, inserting Wright, but Zach Gardner greeted him on the very first pitch by lacing a double into the left-field corner to plate both runs and cut the lead to 7-5.
Wright then got Hines to ground out to shortstop, but the `Jacks hopes stayed alive when Coffman singled through the right side to put runners on the corners and bring the tying run to the plate with two outs before Meyers flied out to end the game.
Meyers and Gardner each finished with a pair of hits and a pair RBI on the day, as eight Lumberjacks recorded hits. Gardner's first hit of the day was a triple, his eighth of his career, which ties him with Noel Trevino for the most all time by a Lumberjack.
SFA now heads to Edinburg to take part in the Al Ogletree Classic beginning Friday. The `Jacks will take on SLC foe UT-Arlington on Friday, before playing Illinois on Saturday and host UTPA on Sunday.
-SFA-
