'Jacks Close Out Home Stand Facing HBU
4/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Stephen F. Austin vs. Houston Baptist
Jaycees Field · Nacogdoches, Texas
Game One: Friday, April 10 · 2:00 p.m.
Game Two: Friday, April 10 · 6:00 p.m.
Game Three: Saturday, April 11 · 2:00 p.m.
Records: SFA (12-20, 6-8 SLC); HBU (16-15, 7-5 SLC)
Live Video: SFA All-Access
Live Stats: Game One · Game Two · Game Three
Twitter Updates: @SFA_Baseball
Opening Pitch
Stephen F. Austin closes out a six-game Southland Conference home stand facing Houston Baptist at Jaycees Field. Due to expected rainy weather, the Lumberjacks and Huskies are scheduled to play a doubleheader Friday beginning at 2 p.m. with the series finale tentatively scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
Probable Starters
· Game One: RHP Cameron Gann, SFA (3-2, 2.77 ERA) vs. RHP Taylor Wright, HBU (5-3, 2.61 ERA)
· Game Two: LHP Dillon Mangham, SFA (2-5, 5.67 ERA) vs. LHP Matthew McCollough, HBU (6-1, 2.70 ERA)
· Game Three: RHP Jarred Greene, SFA (1-3, 7.33 ERA) vs. RHP Curtis Jones, HBU (2-4, 2.72 ERA)
Scouting the Huskies
2015: 16-15 overall, 5-4 road, 7-5 Southland Conference
Last Three Games: L vs. UT-San Antonio (6-2); L vs. Abilene Christian (3-1); W vs. Abilene Christian (4-2)
Head Coach: Jared Moon (Houston Baptist, 1994). 10th season at HBU (269-271-2, .498)
Synopsis: Houston Baptist has posted a 16-15 record on the season, including a 7-5 mark in Southland Conference play. The Huskies enter the weekend ranked fifth in the conference standings, coming off a 2-1 series loss to Abilene Christian in Houston last weekend. As a team, HBU is batting .277 while averaging 3.51 ERA, allowing its opponents to hit .253 with a 3.10 ERA. Pitching has been the Huskies strong suit as seven pitchers with at least seven appearances have ERAs below 4.00. At the plate, Zach Nehrir leads Houston Baptist with a .347 average and a team-best 20 RBI. Curtis Jones is batting .313 with Samm Wiggins hitting .303 with 19 RBI, posting a team-high nine doubles and three homeruns.
Series Information
Heading into the weekend, SFA and Houston Baptist have met 20 times previously with the Lumberjacks holding a 14-6 edge in the all-time series. SFA took two of three from the Huskies in last year's regular season series finale in Houston in the first meeting between the two as Southland Conference foes. The Lumberjacks are 8-3 all-time against the Huskies in Nacogdoches as the Huskies will make their first trip to Jaycees Field since 2011. Under head coach Johnny Cardenas, the `Jacks are 10-3 against Houston Baptist.
Last Time Out
Stephen F. Austin got both some explosive bats and strong pitching performances, taking two out of three from rival Sam Houston State at Jaycees Field. The `Jacks opened up the series with a 3-2 win Thursday behind impressive pitching performances from Cameron Gann and Patrick Ledet, then rallied for a 9-7 win over the Bearkats off a season-high 16 hits, led by a 5-for-5 performance from Garrett McMullen and three hits each from Matthew Dickey and Nick Ramos. In game three, SFA rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to take a 5-3 lead, but SHSU's bats got hot over the final five innings to take the 11-7 victory over the `Jacks.
Southland Conference Standings
With a little over a month to go in the 2015 SLC season, SFA still finds itself with some work to do if it wants to qualify for the 2015 SLC Championships in Sugar Land. Entering the weekend, the Lumberjacks are ninth in the conference standings at 6-8, a game back of eighth-place Abilene Christian's 6-6. The `Jacks hold a one game lead on 10th-place Lamar (5-7) and are a game and a half ahead of 11th-place A&M-Corpus Christi (4-7), holding the tiebreaker against the Islanders. Houston Baptist is currently fifth in the SLC standings at 7-5, one game back of fourth-place Northwestern State (9-5) and Central Arkansas (8-4).
Going For Three
SFA will be going for its third-straight SLC series victory this weekend against Houston Baptist after taking two of three from both A&M-Corpus Christi and Sam Houston State. The last time SFA won three-straight SLC series dates back to the 2011 season when the Lumberjacks swept A&M-Corpus Christi (Apr. 15-17), then took two of three from both McNeese State (Apr. 21-23) and UT-Arlington (Apr. 29-May 1).
Well Rested Lumberjacks
When SFA takes the field against Houston Baptist Friday afternoon, it will end a six-day span between games for the Lumberjacks since the series finale against Sam Houston State on Saturday, April 4. The six day break is the longest of the season for the Lumberjacks as SFA did not play a midweek game or series for the first time since the 2015 season got underway in mid-February.
Lumberjacks Among SLC Leaders
With just over a month to go in the regular season, a number of Lumberjacks remain among the SLC leaders in a number of statistical categories. Kyle Thornell is tied for first with five triples on the year, is third in slugging percentage (.515) and is 10th in total bases (52). Matthew Dickey is third in stolen bases (13) and tied for fifth in doubles (10) while Garrett McMullen is tied for sixth in runs scored (24). On the mound, Tyler Wiedenfeld ranks third in saves (six) with Patrick Ledet tied for second in appearances (17) and Cameron Gann tied for seventh in strikeouts (44) and ranking 10th in opponent batting average (.234).
Looking Ahead
Following this weekend's home series against HBU, SFA heads to Fayetteville, Ark., for a two-game midweek series against SEC opponent Arkansas on April 14 and 15. The `Jacks then head to San Antonio for a three-game series against SLC foe Incarnate Word next weekend.
-SFA-
