Stephen F. Austin
McNeese State
`Jacks Drop Both Ends Of Twinbill
4/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 14, 2012
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Miscues hurt the Lumberjacks in both ends of a doubleheader against McNeese State on Saturday as SFA committed eight total errors on the day in a pair of 4-1 defeats to the Cowboys at Jaycees Field.
McNeese State (15-18, 10-8 SLC) only scored two earned runs in the weekend series, but got solid efforts from its pitching staff on Saturday, including a complete-game effort from Michael Clemens in the finale. The `Jacks (14-21, 7-11 SLC) stranded a dozen runners on base in the first game of the day and committed two of their three errors in the third inning, spoiling an otherwise solid effort from freshman starter Cameron Gann, who allowed just three unearned runs in six innings with four strikeouts and a walk in taking his second straight loss of the year.
Five more miscues haunted SFA in the second game, two of which came in the deciding seventh inning when the Cowboys pushed across three runs to again spoil a solid outing by a Lumberjack starter. Colton Eubanks fell to 3-4 with the loss and had struck out five and allowed just three hits through the first six innings of the game before things fell apart.
The teams had equal hit totals in each game, but SFA was not able to take advantage of a combined six Cowboy free passes from pitchers Blake Ware and Tyler McDonald. Ware allowed just one run on seven hits in 5.1 innings to get the win, walking five and fanning four before handing the ball over to McDonald who earned the save with 3.2 scoreless innings of his own.
Clemens then went the distance in the second game, using 115 pitches for his 27 outs and allowing just six hits with four punchouts.
SFA had to play from behind for nearly the duration of the first game after McNeese pushed across thee unearned runs in the top of the third. After a one-out single by Andre Guillotee, the first SFA error of the day put runners on the corners for Renny Weber who dribbled a single through the right side to put the Cowboys up 1-0. Two batters later another Lumberjack error allowed a second run to come home before Seth Granger delivered his only hit of the game, a two-out RBI single off of Gann to give the Pokes a 3-0 cushion.
The `Jacks left the runners on in both the fourth and fifth before scoring its only run of the game in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk to Zach Benson to cut the lead to 3-1. SFA had a chance to do more damage after the walk from Ware, but the Cowboys went to McDonald out of the pen and the reliever went on to record outs of both Rene' Moreda and Freddy Villalobos to quell the rally.
McNeese added another run in the eighth on a squeeze bunt from Matt Williams before the `Jacks threatened to claw back when put a pair of runners on base; however, McDonald was still able to work out of the jam again before setting SFA down in order in the ninth to even the series at a game apiece.
Game two began as a pitcher's duel with Eubanks and Clemens each matching zeros in the first three innings before SFA went ahead on an RBI single from Jarid Scarafiotti in the bottom of the fourth. That run held up until the bottom of the seventh when McNeese scored three times on a pair of hits and a pair of errors to go ahead.
Clemens responded to the run support by retiring six of the next seven batters in the seventh and eighth and got another run to work with in the top of the ninth with the aid of two more Lumberjack errors, giving him a 4-1 lead going into the ninth. The righty walked the leadoff man in the ninth, but retired each of the next three hitters he faced to close out his first complete game of the year.
SFA will next take the field on Tuesday for a doubleheader against nationally-ranked Arkansas in Fayetteville.
-SFA-
