Stephen F. Austin
McNeese State
SFA Drops Heartbreaker at McNeese, 9-8
5/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
McNeese State 9, Stephen F. Austin 8
Cowboy Diamond · Lake Charles, La.
Records: SFA (15-31, 9-15 SLC); McN (26-20, 15-10 SLC)
Up Next: at McNeese State · Saturday, May 2 · 2:00 p.m.
LAKE CHARLES, La. -- Trailing by two runs heading into the ninth inning, Stephen F. Austin rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the inning, tying its Southland Conference showdown with McNeese State 8-8. But a walk-off single with two outs in the ninth pushed the winning run across the plate as the Lumberjacks drop a 9-8 heartbreaker to the Cowboys.
The loss drops SFA to 15-31 on the season and 9-15 in Southland Conference play. McNeese State improves to 26-20 overall and 15-10 in conference action.
Needing a pair of runs to tie the game in the ninth, SFA loaded the bases with one out, thanks to walks by Kyle Thornell and Garrett McMullen, sandwiching a single from Conner Fikes. Hunter Wilson knocked in one run on a fielders choice, followed by the game-tying RBI by Zach Valenzuela, knotting the game at 8-8.
SFA was able to get two out in the bottom half of the inning, but Andrew Guillotte knocked the game-winning single with two gone, scoring the winning run from third as the Cowboys knock off the Lumberjacks.
McNeese set the tone early in the game as the Cowboys raced out to an early 3-0 lead after the first inning thanks to a pair of early doubles. SFA evened the score in the top of the second behind an RBI double from McMullen and RBI singles from Wilson and Eric DeJesus.
After the Cowboys took the 4-3 lead after two complete, the `Jacks once again evened things up in the top of the fourth behind a Dan O'Neill home run to right, his fourth of the season. The `Jacks then took their first lead of the game in the fourth, plating two runs thanks to an RBI single from Thornell and a sacrifice bunt from O'Neill, giving SFA th 6-4 lead in the fourth.
McNeese closed the gap to 6-5 in the sixth, then reclaimed the lead 7-6 behind a pair of runs in the seventh. The Cowboys then added another run in the eighth, pushing their lead to 8-6 and setting up the dramatic ninth inning.
O'Neill and Wilson led the way at the play as the duo both went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Fikes also finished the night 2-for-4, scoring a run, with DeJesus adding a pair of hits as well for SFA.
Starter Cameron Gann lasted 5.1 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits with three strikeouts. Josh Keith was tabbed with the loss, pitching the final 1.2 innings and giving up a pair of runs on two hits, including the walk-off single to end the game.
SFA tries to rebound Saturday afternoon when it heads back to Cowboy Diamond for game two of the three-game series. Left hander Dillon Mangham is scheduled to make the start for the Lumberjacks with the first pitch being thrown out at 2 p.m.
-SFA-
