Stephen F. Austin
UT Arlington
'Jacks Hot Bats & Greene's Strong Start Shut Down UT Arlington in 12-1 Season-Opening Win
2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Stephen F. Austin 12, UT Arlington 1
Clay Gould Ballpark • Arlington, Texas
Records: SFA (1-0), UT Arlington (1-1)
Pitching Records: SFA | Greene (1-0) • UT Arlington | Simmons (0-1)
Up Next: vs. No. 7 Oklahoma State (0-1) • Saturday, Feb. 20 • 11:00 a.m.
ARLINGTON, Texas - Paced by a strong start by senior southpaw Jarred Greene on the hill as well as an 11-hit onslaught at the plate, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team captured its third-straight season-opening win by rolling to a 12-1 triumph over UT Arlington in the second game of the Clay Gould Classic on Friday afternoon.
Greene largely stymied the Mavericks, allowing just three hits and one run while sitting down five via the punchout in 5 1/3 innings of work. Eight `Jacks racked up hits, led by Tyler Kendrick's 3-for-4 performance at the plate. SFA's starting shortstop finished with two runs scored and an RBI. SFA's 11-run win is the largest margin of victory in a season opener in program history.
Senior Conner Fikes served as the only other SFA player to produce a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-3 with a game-high four RBIs. Kyle Thornell, Nick Ramos and Zach Michener all crossed home plate twice and the latter pair of players finished with one hit.
Ramos staked the `Jacks to a quick 1-0 edge thanks to an RBI groundout in the top of the first that scored Kendrick, who notched SFA's first hit of the season by plunking one-out double to left-center.
The only trouble Greene ran into during his 2016 debut came in the bottom of the opening frame when UTA third baseman Christian Hollie launched a two-out solo home run beyond the fence in left field to to knot the game at one.
Slayton Vaughan, playing in his first game in Stephen F. Austin colors, made sure that deadlock didn't last long as his one-out double in the top of the second plated Zach Michener for the game's winning run. Vaughan's two-bagger proved to be the second act of a five-hit assault in the frame as both Kendrick and Tyler Boxwell hammered RBI singles that upped the SFA edge to 4-1.
Not once did the `Jacks consider letting up, as the visitors plated at least one run in all but two of the nine innings. Fikes conjured up his first RBI of the season by punching a one-out single up the middle in the third to score Michener in the third.SFA managed to send UTA starter Kadon Simmons back to the dugout after the junior was tagged for seven hits and five runs in 2 1/3 innings. UTA used a grand total of five arms to get through the nine-inning affair.
SFA hung another three-spot up on the scoreboard in a top of the fourth where the Mavericks committed two of their five errors. Michener collected an RBI with a one-out, bases loaded fielder's choice that scored Matthew Dickey who led off the inning with a base on balls. Fikes' two-run single through the left side pushed Thornell and Ramos across home plate and extended the Lumberjacks' lead to 8-1.
Greene continued to keep UTA off-balance on the hill, sitting down seven-straight Mavericks in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before surrendering a one-out single in the sixth. From there, Greene gave up the ball to mustachioed SFA newcomer Austin Hagy for 2 2/3 innings. In that span, the junior right-hander fanned a pair, allowed just a single hit and witnessed the `Jacks edge bulge to double-digits when Zach Valenzuela drew a one-out, bases-loaded walk in the top of the eighth.
Senior Austin Smith stepped to the mound for the `Jacks in the bottom of the ninth and kept the Mavericks from scoring any more runs by serving up a strikeout and a groundout following a one-out two-bagger by Jerame Littell.
An early wake-up call awaits the `Jacks on Saturday morning as they are scheduled to take part in their first neutral-field showdown of the season when they encounter No. 7-ranked Oklahoma State at 11 a.m.
-SFA-
