Stephen F. Austin
Incarnate Word
Late Cardinal Rally Dooms Lumberjacks, 5-4
4/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Incarnate Word 5, Stephen F. Austin 4
Sullivan Field · San Antonio, Texas
Records: SFA (13-27, 7-13 SLC); UIW (13-25, 4-14 SLC)
Up Next: vs. Louisiana Tech · Tuesday, April 21 · 6:30 p.m.
SAN ANTONIO -- Stephen F. Austin rallied for four runs in the seventh inning, claiming a 4-3 lead. But Incarnate Word answered with two of its own in the bottom of the inning to take the 5-4 lead, then held off the Lumberjacks to take the best-of-three series at Sullivan Field.
SFA falls to 13-27 on the year and 7-13 in SLC play, slipping to 11th in the conference standings. UIW improves to 13-25 and 4-14 in conference play with half of the Cardinals' conference wins coming against the Lumberjacks.
Trying to capture its third SLC series in the last four weeks, SFA fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the third, then Incarnate Word extended that gap to 3-0 after five.
SFA's bats started to come alive in the top of the seventh, beginning with an RBI triple for Kyle Thornell, his conference-best seventh three-bagger of the year, scoring Garrett McMullen from first. Hunter Wilson, Eric DeJesus and Conner Fikes each recorded RBIs in the inning as well as the Lumberjacks took a 4-3 lead heading to the bottom of the inning.
But Incarnate Word responded with a two RBI double in the bottom of the seventh, reclaiming the lead at 5-4, then held the `Jacks hitless in the final two innings to seal the win and clinch the series win over SFA.
After scoring 19 runs on 20 hits Saturday afternoon, the `Jacks managed just four runs on eight hits Sunday as Thornell and Fikes each had a pair. Thornell led the way with an RBI and a run scored as he finishes the three-game series batting 6-for-11 with seven RBI and three runs scored.
Starter Jarred Greene went 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts, earning the no decision. Travis Stone picked up the loss for SFA allowing the two runs in the seventh inning as Patrick Ledet and Tyler Wiedenfeld combined to allow just two hits over 2.1 innings.
SFA returns to Jaycees Field for the final home stand of 2015, beginning with a one-game showdown with Louisiana Tech Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. That leads into the final three-game SLC home series for the Lumberjacks, welcoming Abilene Christian to Nacogdoches.
-SFA-
