Stephen F. Austin
Texas State
Staley's Blast Sends `Jacks Past Texas State
3/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 29, 2009
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Joe Staley hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning that gave SFA a lead that it would not give back and Richard Folmer picked up a three-inning save as the `Jacks left town with a 7-4 win over Texas State at Bobcat Baseball Stadium.
SFA (8-16, 3-8 SLC) had trailed the entire game until the sixth inning when Staley capped a two-out rally with a monster three-run home run, the first of his career, to right-center field that gave the `Jacks a 6-4 lead. Texas State (16-9, 8-4 SLC) had their chances in every inning, getting at least one base runner in every inning, but SFA's bullpen was aided by some solid defense and pitched out of every jam.
Chris Court threw 2.1 innings of one-hit, shutout baseball for his first win of the season while Folmer earned his third save of the year by going three full innings and striking out four.
Brian Borski took his first loss of the season for Texas State, despite retiring 10 straight Lumberjacks from the second threw fifth innings.
For SFA, they had 13 hits on the day with Sean Meyers finishing with a career-best 4-for-5 day. Tanner Hines and Brian Ferguson added a pair of singles as well, with 11 of SFA's hits just going for a single base.
Texas State took a 2-0 lead off of SFA starter Jared Schrom in the second inning on a two-out double from Kyle Livingstone, but the `Jacks tied things up an inning later when they took advantage of a throwing error from Ben Theriot that scored Brian Ferguson. Zach Gardner then singled to score Jeffrey Kello with two outs.
The `Cats added runs in both the second and third innings for a 4-2 lead, driving Schrom from the mound in favor of Court. Borski cruised through the fifth before running into trouble in the sixth.
Meyers led off with a double off the left-field wall and scored on an RBI groundout from Justin Long. Brian Ferguson and Jarid Scarafiotti then hit back-to-back singles with two outs to set up Staley, who deposited a 1-0 pitch onto the equipment shed in left-center field for a 6-4 lead.
Texas State then posed an immediate threat an inning later when Alex Moshier walked the first two batters of the inning, but Theriot's bunt attempt was snagged on the fly by a diving Luke Baker who then fired to second for a double play. Moshier then fanned Laurn Randell to get the `Jacks out of the jam.
Folmer entered one inning later in the same situation, catching a break when Jason Martinson overslid third base on a steal attempt for the first out, but then followed with strikeouts of both Bret Atwood and Paul Goldschmidt to close it out.
The `Jacks added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, and Folmer put runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom of the frame before getting Kyle Kubitza to fly out for the final out.
SFA is back at home on Tuesday when they play Houston Baptist at 3:00 p.m and return the favor on Wednesday in Houston. UTSA then comes to town on Friday to begin a three-game set.
-SFA-
