SFA Heads To Little Rock For Midweek Battle
3/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 8, 2010
at Arkansas-Little Rock(10-2, 0-0 Sun Belt) - March 8, 2010 - 6:00 p.m.
Complete release in PDF format
Probable Pitching Matchup
Tuesday:
SFA - Zack Taylor, RHP (0-0, 4.76 ERA, 5.2 IP, 5 K, 2 BB)
UALR - Ryan Juris, RHP (2-0, 3.46 ERA, 13.0 IP, 11 K, 4 BB)
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 .410 with 16 hits and 14 runs scored through just eleven games. That .410 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 last 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. Loveless leads the `Jacks in batting average, slugging percentage, RBI and home runs after his 2-for-4 performance on Sunday at No. 17 that included his second home run of the season against a Big XII team.
HIT THE ROAD `JACKS: After opening up with six of its first seven games at home, the `Jacks are in the midst of facing a new test as they are away from home for 10 straight games over next 2+ weeks starting last weekend when SFA went 2-2 at the Sooner Classic in Norman, Okla. 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.
QUICK STARTERS: With each win the `Jacks continue to add to the program's quickest and best start in history. Currently SFA has won seven of its first eleven, 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. With a win over UALR it would mark the fastest SFA has ever reached eight wins in a season.
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.
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.
-SFA-
