SFA Welcomes Arkansas-Pine Bluff to Jaycees Field Wednesday Afternoon
3/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Stephen F. Austin (9-13) vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (4-14)
Wednesday, March 22 | 3:30 p.m. | Jaycees Field | Nacogdoches, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (Facebook Live)
PITCHING MATCHUP
LHP Aaron Cardona (0-0, 8.53 ERA) vs. TBA
LEADOFF HITS
• Fresh off the program's first victory over Louisiana Tech since 2013, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team continues its longest home stand of the season with a Wednesday afternoon matchup against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. First pitch has been set for 3:30 p.m. at Jaycees Field.
• Getting the ball for the `Jacks in his second collegiate start is freshman lefty Aaron Cardona. The southpaw from Kingsville, Texas, tossed four frames of scoreless baseball in Houston last Tuesday afternoon against Houston Baptist and did not play a part in the final decision - an eventual 9-2 SFA victory.
• Senior Nick Ramos put forth his first three-hit effort of 2017 Tuesday night against Louisiana Tech. Those three hits were the most by any player in the game and pushed his career total to 184. With 16 more base knocks, the Plano, Texas, product will become just the fourth player in program history to record 200 or more hits in a career.
• Erik Nouis bounced back from a series of difficult outings earlier in the year and in his first midweek start of the season tossed five frames against Louisiana Tech. The senior out of Houston, Texas, reset his career high by striking out nine of the Bulldogs' batters and earned his first victory of 2017.
• With a 2-for-4 performance against Louisiana Tech, junior Josh Evans raised his batting average to .394 - the fourth-highest figure among all Southland Conference players. Evans belted a game-tying solo home run in the second and finished with a pair of RBI. In the process, he raised his slugging percentage to .727 - the best in the Southland Conference.
• Zac Michener hit his first career triple in Tuesday night's win against Louisiana Tech. Additionally, the senior added his nation-leading sixth sacrifice fly of the season. The Kennedale, Texas, product is tied for the national lead with Georgetown's Jake Kuzbel.
• No team in the Southland Conference has totaled fewer strikeouts than the `Jacks so far in 2017. SFA batters have fanned 119 times through 22 games while Northwestern State batters have struck out the most this season - 203 times. Conversely, SFA's pitching staff leads the league with 183 punchouts.
SERIES HISTORY
RECORD vs. ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF | 2-1 (.667)
STREAK | Arkansas-Pine Bluff won one
IN NACOGDOCHES | 1-0 (1.000)
STREAK | SFA won one
IN PINE BLUFF, ARK. | 1-1 (.500)
STREAK | Arkansas-Pine Bluff won one
LAST GAME | at Arkansas-Pine Bluff 10, SFA 9 (4/25/12)
SFA RUNS | PER GAME | 23 | 7.7
ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF RUNS | PER GAME | 15 | 5.0
LAST ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF WIN | 4/25/12 • 10-9
LAST SFA WIN | 4/12/11 • 9-5
SCOUTING ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
A well-traveled squad so far in 2017, the Golden Lions roll into Nacogdoches for their 16th road game of the 2017 campaign Wednesday afternoon. Last Sunday in Houston, they picked up their second road win of the season and put an end to a four-game losing skid at the same time with a 14-11 SWAC triumph over Texas Southern. That win saw the Golden Lions jump out to an early 13-2 lead to even their league record at 3-3.
The best bat in Arkansas-Pine Bluff's lineup belongs to Jordan Knox who is hitting .407 through 14 games. Knox is one of two Golden Lions who have accumulated 20 or more hits in 2017 and he leads the squad in various categories including total hits (22), RBI (13) and stolen bases (seven). Additionally, Knox leads the SWAC in four areas: batting average, hits per game (1.57), slugging percentage (.574) and triples per game (0.21).
Other big hitters in the Golden Lions' lineup include Sergio Esparza and Jerimiah Figueroa. Esparza is second only to Knox in terms of hits among the Arkansas-Pine Bluff lineup with a total of 21 through 18 games. His .339 average is helped along by a pair of doubles, a triple and a home run.
COMING UP NEXT
Following back-to-back non-conference outings, the `Jacks step back into Southland Conference play when they host Abilene Christian for a three-game set at Jaycees Field that begins Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
-SFA-
