Stephen F. Austin
Houston
Errors Doom SFA In Loss At Houston
2/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 22, 2011
HOUSTON, Texas - Three miscues in the second inning helped spark a six-run inning that put the Lumberjack baseball team in a hole it couldn't dig out of as the Houston Cougars picked up a 10-3 win over SFA on Tuesday at Cougar Field.
Houston (4-0) only scored three earned runs on the night, but was able to take advantage of each of four SFA (2-3) errors in the game as each miscue led directly to Houston runs. Six SFA pitchers combined to allow just three earned runs on the night, fanning six and walking two.
Jared West was the tough-luck loser, allowing eight runs - two earned - in just 1.2 innings in his first start of the year to fall to 1-1 for the season. He walked just one hitter, but the Cougars were able to take advantage of the extended second inning with three extra-base hits that followed SFA's first two errors.
Houston freshman starter Chase Wellbrock did not give SFA much room to maneuver either, going six innings in his collegiate debut with six strikeouts and just two walks, allowing two first-inning runs to earn his first win as a Cougar.
Three Lumberjacks finished with two hits, including Bryson Myles, Jackson Hood and freshman Hunter Dozier who also picked up his first SFA RBI with a ninth-inning single.
The `Jacks got on board early on, using a two-out single from Myles and a walk from Darren Crabtree to a pair of men on base in front of Jarid Scarafiotti, who ripped the first pitch he saw inside the third-base bag for a two-run double that put SFA out in front 2-0. But the Cougars answered with a two-run double from Caleb Ramsey in their half of the first to quickly knot it back up.
But then came the second inning, with a one-out throwing error on Jordan Lewis that put Joel Ansley on second base. He scored two batters later just before another miscue on Lewis put another runner on before Chase Jensen brought in two runs to make it 5-2 with a triple into the left-center field gap. He scored two pitches later on a wild pitch before the third error set things up for the Cougars to add on as Austin Gracey and Matt Creel each delivered RBI hits before Brad Oates came on to end the inning with the Cougars up 8-2.
Houston added another run in the third on a leadoff homer from Ansley, and got another unearned run in the fifth when Appling reached on an error and came in to score on an RBI ground out.
That was plenty for the Cougars to work with as they held SFA off the scoreboard until the ninth when Dozier dumped his second hit of the night into center field to score Max Lamantia for the final SFA run.
The `Jacks get back to action on Friday at the Northwestern State tournament when they face ULM in a 2:00 p.m. matchup.
-SFA-
