Stephen F. Austin
Washington State
'Jacks Roar Past Cougars in Season Opener
2/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Stephen F. Austin 4, Washington State 1
Jaycees Field • Nacogdoches, Texas
Records: SFA (1-0), Washington State (0-1)
Up Next: vs. Missouri State • Saturday, Feb. 14 • 6 p.m.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - A fast start out of the gate, solid pitching and timely defense paced Stephen F. Austin to a 4-1 season-opening victory over Washington State at the Tipton Ford Classic at Jaycees Field.
"If you're going to script how you want to start the season, that's the script you'd write," said head coach Johnny Cardenas. "At this point in the season, pitchers are normally ahead of hitters, and I thought we showed a strong effort by our staff tonight. They had some big-time defense to back them up as well, so it was a great way to start the year."
SFA roared out of the gate in the bottom of the first as leadoff hitter Matthew Dickey connected on a single on the first pitch he saw, which was immediately followed by a Nick Ramos triple to center, driving Dickey home and giving the `Jacks the 1-0 lead after just two batters. Ramos would score later in the inning off an RBI single from Conner Fikes as SFA lead 2-0 after one inning.
The `Jacks would add another run in both the third and fourth innings, successfully converting a double steal attempt at the corners in the third as Garrett McMullen stole home to push the lead to 3-0. SFA then loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth and was able to add the fourth run of the game off a Ramos ground out, giving the `Jacks the 4-0 lead.
That lead would prove to be enough as senior Cameron Gann had a strong showing on opening night, going five innings and allowing just one run on one hit with seven strikeouts, including striking out the Cougar side in the fourth.
A Washington State double in the fifth gave the Cougars their only run of the game although WSU had runners in scoring position in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. SFA found itself in a tough situation as the Cougars loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh, but a shallow fly out and a pair of strikeouts from Patrick Ledet ended the threat and helped preserve the Lumberjack win.
Fikes led the SFA batters, going 3-for-4 on the night with an RBI as Dickey went 2-for-4 for the `Jacks. Ramos was 1-for-4 for SFA, notching a pair of RBIs as well as the `Jacks manufactured 10 hits on the night. Tyler Wiedenfeld came in and pitched a hitless ninth inning to notch his first save of the season.
SFA returns to the diamond tomorrow when it hosts Missouri State at 6 p.m. in the fourth game of the 2015 SFA Tipton Ford Baseball Classic. The early game features a showdown between Washington State and UT-Arlington with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.
-SFA-
