SFA Heads North To Sooner Classic
3/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 4, 2010
vs South Florida (1-6, 0-0 Big East) - March 5, 2010 - 11:00 a.m.
vs Western Illinois (3-1, 0-0 Summit League) - March 6, 2010 - 11:00 a.m.
vs Western Illinois (3-1, 0-0 Summit League) - March 6, 2010 - 7:00 p.m.
vs Oklahoma (7-1, 0-0 Big XII) - March 7, 2010 - 3:00 p.m.
Complete release in PDF format
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday:
SFA - Tyler Herriage, LHP (1-0, 8.59 ERA, 7.1 IP, 10 K, 3 BB)
USF - Matt Stull, RHP (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.2 IP, 1 K, 2 BB)
Saturday:
SFA - Jared West, RHP (1-0, 2.45 ERA, 11.0 IP, 7K, 1 BB)
WIU - Randon Lingle, RHP (1-0, 2.25 ERA, 8.0 IP, 5 K, 2 BB)
Saturday:
SFA - Brett Rogers, RHP (1-0, 10.12 ERA, 8.0.0 IP, 1 K, 4 BB)
WIU - Randon Lingle, RHP (1-0, 2.25 ERA, 8.0 IP, 5 K, 2 BB)
Sunday:
SFA - Justin Braddock, RHP (2-0, 2.45 ERA, 11.0 IP, 5K, 2 BB)
OU - TBA
Series Notes
NINE-HOLE KNOCKOUTS:
A big part of SFA's early success this season has been the balance throughout Johnny Cardenas' lineup in all spots 1-9. But no slot's improvement has been more glaring as SFA's No. 9 hitters through seven games. Essentially a second leadoff hitter, nine-hole hitters for the `Jacks hit just .173 last season, just 25 runs scored and 33 hits in 55 games. This season has been a different story as Michael Haynes and Jordan Lewis have been sparkplugs at the bottom of the lineup, hitting a combined .458 with 11 hits and 12 runs scored through just seven games. That .458 average is the highest average of any spot in the Lumberjack lineup.
NO LOVE LOST: Junior transfer Bobby Loveless was brought in to be a run-producing threat in the middle of the order and early on he has been just that. He put together his first four-hit game of his career on Tuesday against Houston Baptist and picked up his 10th RBI of the season, becoming the first `Jack to reach double figures in that category in 2010. He also earned some national recognition this week after his three-run homer against Texas A&M proved to be the winning margin, as he was named a Primetime Performer by CollegeBaseball360.com for the week of Feb. 22-28. He was one of just 21 players in the nation named to the list for the week.
HIT THE ROAD `JACKS: After opening up with six of its first seven games at home, the `Jacks will face a new test as they will be away from home for 10 straight games over next 2+ weeks beginning this weekend in Oklahoma. Pending that the weather cooperates and all of the games are played it will be the longest road swing for SFA this season. It would also be the longest for the program since SFA's first road trip in 2006, an 11-game swing that saw the `Jacks drop 10 of 11 games in its first season back.
JUSTIN TIME: With the loss of all-time wins leader Erich Lehmann after last season, the `Jacks knew they would have holes to fill in the starting rotation. One name they were looking at to fill that void was junior transfer Justin Braddock and through two starts he has been solid, going 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA against Grambling and Houston Baptist. He is only the third SFA player since 2006 to pick up wins in his first two career appearances, joining Erich Lehmann and Lance Luetge in that category. Going even further, he and Lehmann are the only two `Jacks to run their record to 2-0 in their first two career starts.
SEASON-OPENING STREAKS: There are two Lumberjacks that have opened up the season with hits in each game they have played in - outfielder Ryan Priest and catcher Jarid Scarafiotti. Priest's seven-game streak is still just short of his career-high hit streak of 10 games that he set last season, while Scarafiotti has a new career high in that category as he has hit in all six of the games he has played in this season.
QUICK STARTERS: With each win the `Jacks continue to add to the program's quickest and best start in history. Currently SFA has won five of its first seven, with it's lone road win coming in College Station against Texas A&M. The win was also SFA's first over the Aggies in 18 tries, as well as the school's second-ever win over a team from the Big XII.
WHO'S THE NEW GUYS?: Look through the `Jacks roster and you will see a number of new faces in purple and white. SFA returns only a dozen players off of its 2009 roster, which is the least amount of returners of any school in the Southland Conference; however, they are divided up evenly with six right-handed arms back in addition to six position players.
NO LOVE FOR THE LUMBERJACKS: The preaseason all-conference teams and polls came out just weeks before the beginning of the season with the `Jacks not receiving a whole lot of respect in either area. SFA lost all three of its all-conference players from a year ago and consequently joined Central Arkansas as the only two teams in the SLC without a single player on this year's preseason all-SLC teams. It is the first time since SFA's first year back from hiatus in 2006 that SFA hs not had a single player on the preseason team.
THE UN-WILD WEST: Jared West just seemed more comfortable on the rubber at Jaycees Field in 2009 and through one game that has carried over into 2010. In five starts at home last season West went 3-0 with a 1.37 ERA and held opponents to a .220 average as a starter. In his first start of the season on Saturday against Grambling he went 7.0 innings with five strikeouts and no walks in picking up the win. With two home starts under his belt in 2010, he has run his record to 5-0 with a 1.67 ERA in nine appearances at Jaycees Field over the past two seasons.
A FAMILY AFFAIR: It is not out of the ordinary for athletic teams to refer to itself as a family, but in the case of the Lumberjacks it really is. SFA sports two sets of brothers on its roster for the second consecutive season - twin pitchers Jared and Jason West, and senior/freshman combo Ryan and Cody Priest. Since 2006 four sets of brothers have suited up together for the `Jacks and it was nearly five as this year junior Darren Crabtree will lace them up fror SFA just two seasons after his older brother, Kevin, was a first team all-SLC performer at SFA. Overall there are only six other teams in the country with a two pairs of brothers on the roster with UMass, Akron, Arizona State, Southern Utah, Santa Clara and San Jose State joining SFA in that category.
FRESH FACES ALL AROUND: When SFA takes the field in Norman this weekend against South Florida it will be the stat of a weekend that will be brand new for nearly every `Jack on the roster. Two of the three teams that SFA will face this weekend - South Florida and Western Illinois - will be first-time opponents for the `Jacks, while SFA has only faced Oklahoma once since 2006. Redshirt junior Justin Long is the only Lumberjack on the roster with any playing experience at all against the Sooners as he got one at-bat 2007 when the `Jacks traveled to Norman for a single midweek game.
START ME UP: Lumberjack starters did their job in SFA's first four games, picking up the win in each contest. That marked the first time SFA starting pitchers have been credited with the win in four straight games in recorded history. On top of that, each of the first three Lumberjack starters of the season - Tyler Herriage, Jared West and Justin Braddock - went at least 6.0 innings of work in their wins, which is the first time that SFA starters have been credited with wins in three straight games in which they pitched 6.0 innings into the game.
ON FAMILIAR GROUND: SFA opened up the 2006 at Jaycees Field with a win over Arkansas-Little Rock when it brought back baseball five seasons ago, but that was a far cry from the norm of the program's first go-round. That 2006 home opener was the first time since the 1989 season that SFA had opened up at Jaycees Field, and dating back to 1984 this season marks only the fourth time it has ever happened.
THREE AT A TIME: It was a different story in the first weekend of the season for the `Jacks as not only did they pick up three straight wins, but did it in a much more efficient manner. Last season SFA used 14 different pitchers in its first three games, including nine in one game alone; however, the `Jacks used just nine pitchers in this season's opening three games - three in each game - with each starter going at least six innings.
NO STRIKE THREES: It may have taken the `Jacks a while to get the bats going Feb. 21 against Grambling, but it is not like the Tiger pitchers were racking up the strikeouts. In fact, before Tiger reliever Matthew Morales recorded a strikeout of Bo Coffman in the bottom of the eighth inning, no Lumberjack had gone down by strikes. In 234 games since SFA brought the program back in 2006 only one time has SFA's offense made it through an entire game without striking out a single time. Oddly enough it was in the first game of the 2009 SLC Tournament against top-seeded Texas State and SLC Pitcher of the Year Kane Holbrooks in a 9-2 loss to the `Cats.
-SFA-
