SFA To Face Hot-Hitting Cardinals
4/25/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 25, 2013
|
Games 42-44 Beaumont, Texas |
|
| 6:30 p.m. - Fri., April 26 2:00 p.m. - Sat., April 27 1:00 p.m. - Sun., April 28 (Click Game/Time for Gametracker) |
| | Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday
Saturday Sunday |
|
Game Notes & What To Watch For:
- All games can be followed via Gametracker at SFAJacks.com. Fans can also follow along on the official SFA Facebook and Twitter pages for the most up-to-date information on all games.
- Seven teams are within two games of first place in the Southland Conference with just four more league series remaining, but all are chasing Stephen F. Austin afer the `Jacks won their third straight SLC series last weekend over Southeastern Louisiana. Now SFA will face off with one of the hottest and most explosive teams in the league when it squares off with Lamar for three games in Beaumont beginning Friday.
- Lamar has won its last five games in a row after a three-game sweep of Northwestern State last weekend in Natchitoches, and has won its last three SLC series also after winning weekends over Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana as well.
- SFA and Lamar are the two top slugging offenses in the Southland, with each ranking in the top three in home runs as well. Lamar is the only team in the SLC hitting above .300 as a team wih a .303 average, while Darian Johnson and Sam Bumpers each rank in the top three indvidually in hits.
- SFA is just 13-43 all-time vs the Cardinals, but have experienced some success vs LU in recent years. The `Jacks had won consecutive series vs Lamar before LU took two of three in Nacogdoches last season. Still, the `Jacks have won eight of the last 12 meetings between the teams.
- SFA's Hunter Dozier saw his 16-game hit streak come to and end on with an 0-for-3 outing in the series finale vs Oral Roberts; however,he has maintained another streak and enters Friday having reached base in 31 straight games. He has 25 walks to only 17 strikeouts in those 31 games, while hitting safely in 27 of them with a .440 batting average, .538 on-base percentage and .871 slugging percentage.
- Since taking over a late-inning role early in the year, reliever Brett Higginbotham has been nearly unhittable. In his last 15 appearances, the sidewinding senior righty has the following numbers: 3-1 record, 6 saves, 0.37 ERA, 24.1 IP, 12 hits allowed, .154 batting average, 1 run allowed, 27 strikeouts and just four walks.
- Hunter Dozier is cementing his name in the SFA record books this season, having already set the all-time doubles record and rapidly moving up in a number of other categories. The junior infielder is now just one of three Lumberjacks in school history with 200 career hits, and needs just 21 more to break Zach Gardner's career hits record at the school, in one less season. He also needs just one more double to break his school record set last season, and needs seven more two-baggers to tie UTSA's Michael Rockett for the Southland Conference doubles record, both in a single-season and career.
- Since SFA shuffled its lineup for the Oral Roberts series, nobody has seen more benefit than senior Freddy Villalobos. The SFA second baseman moved into the cleanup spot at that time, and in the 13 games since he has led the team with a .388 batting average with seven multi-hit games in that span. The `Jacks are 11-2 in those 13 games.
- Starting pitcher Chase Greening had 10 strikeouts in his near no-hitter at McNeese State. It was the second time he has reached double-figure strikeouts in a game this year, including his 17 against Arlington Baptist. He is the first SFA pitcher to reach at least 10 strikeouts in a game since the program returned in 2006. The `Jacks had only had three double-digit strikeout games from an individual since 2006 before this season. Greening followed that up with 7.0 shutout innings against Southeastern Louisiana and will enter Friday's start at Lamar riding a string of 15.1 consecutive shutout innings.
-SFA-
