Stephen F. Austin
Abilene Christian
'Jacks Shut Out Wildcats on Senior Day
4/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Stephen F. Austin 3, Abilene Christian 0
Jaycees Field -- Nacogdoches, Texas
Records: SFA (15-29, 9-14 SLC); ACU (10-31, 8-13 SLC)
Up Next: at Louisiana Tech - Tuesday, April 28 -- 6 p.m.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Stephen F. Austin closed out the 2015 home season the way each team intends to, sending the seniors out winners as the Lumberjacks defeated Abilene Christian 3-0 at Jaycees Field. The `Jacks take the series against the Wildcats, improving to 15-29 on the year and 9-14 in Southland Conference play.
The win over ACU gives the `Jacks their third SLC series win of the season as SFA remains in the chase for the final spot in the 2015 Southland Conference Championship. The `Jacks sit 10th with just a pair of games separating them, eighth-place A&M-Corpus Christi and ninth-place Lamar.
Runs were hard to come by Sunday as SFA and ACU staged a pitchers duel in the series finale. SFA starter Jarred Greene was solid on the mound, earning the win after allowing just four Wildcat hits with three strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched.
The Lumberjacks struck in the bottom of the second inning as an RBI single by Tyler Boxwell drove in Garrett McMullen, giving SFA the 1-0 lead.
That score stood until the sixth when Boxwell struck again, ripping a double to right center that scored Eric DeJesus from first, just beating out the tag at the plate and giving SFA the 2-0 lead. The Lumberjacks added another in the seventh off an RBI single to right, bringing Kyle Thornell home from second as he was able to avoid the tag attempt at home, giving SFA some breathing room.
After a scoreless eighth which saw Austin Smith and Patrick Ledet send ACU down in order, senior Tyler Wiedenfield came on to record his eighth save of the year, retiring all three Wildcats he saw in the ninth to clinch the 3-0 win on Senior Day for SFA. Travis Stone was also impressive in his 1.2 innings of work, allowing no hits with two strikeouts and getting the `Jacks out of a jam in the sixth, getting a pair of outs with Wildcat runners at the corners.
Thornell continued to swing a hot bat in SLC play, going 3-for-3 on the day with a double and a run scored. Boxwell went 2-for-3 with two RBI, giving him five in the two games he played in the ACU series, with McMullen going 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored as well for SFA.
It was a fitting end to the home schedule for Lumberjack seniors Cameron Gann, Josh Keith, Dillon Mangham, Dan O'Neill and Tyler Wiedenfeld. All five were recognized in a pregame ceremony then each got to make their final trot around the bases at Jaycees Field following the victory.
The win closes out the 2015 home schedule for the Lumberjacks, who now face a challenging final three weeks of the regular season, playing the final eight games of the year on the road. That slate begins Tuesday when SFA heads to Ruston, Louisiana, completing the home-and-home series with Louisiana Tech at 6 p.m.
-SFA-
