SFA Hosts Little Rock for Three-Game Weekend Series
3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Stephen F. Austin (5-9) vs. Little Rock (6-7) | Jaycees Field | Nacogdoches, Texas
Game One | Friday, March 10 | 6:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch (Facebook Live)
Game Two | Saturday, March 11 | 2:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch (Facebook Live)
Game Three | Sunday, March 12 | 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch (Facebook Live)
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday | RHP Trevor Kiminski (1-1, 4.85 ERA) vs. RHP Cory Malcom (1-0, 0.93 ERA)
Saturday | LHP Erik Nouis (0-1, 4.91 ERA) vs. LHP Cole Townsend (1-0, 2.20 ERA)
Sunday | LHP Patrick Ledet (0-2, 7.07 ERA) vs. LHP Chandler Fidel (1-1, 3.46 ERA)
LEADOFF HITS
• Winners of their last three games at Jaycees Field, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team closes out a four-game stand at that facility by hosting Sun Belt adversary Little Rock for a three-game set beginning with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch for Friday night’s series opener.
• By hitting his fifth sacrifice fly of the season, senior outfielder Zac Michener now has five of them through the 2017 season. That leads both the Southland Conference and all NCAA Division I baseball players in that category and only CSU Bakerfield’s David Metzgar has the same number of sacrifice flies as Michener.
• Over the last 10 days, few collegiate pitchers have succeeded in racking up as many strikeouts as SFA junior Tony Grabowske. In his last two starts, the junior from New Brighton, Minn., has struck out 20 batters - 10 per outing - to break into a number of statistical categories. Due to hid dominance on the hill, Grabowske ranks 50th nationally with 23 strikeouts and 92nd nationally in strikeouts per nine innings pitched (11.72). Both of those figures rank fourth among all Southland Conference arms
• Grabowske’s dominance has helped SFA rise to the top of the Southland Conference stat rankings in strikeouts per nine innings pitched as a team. SFA is averaging 8.5 to lead the league and rank 95th nationally. In their last three home games, SFA has racked up 47 of its 117 total strikeouts.
• Early on, the ‘Jacks’ fielding continues to be a strong point for the squad. SFA ranks third in the Southland Conference and 28th nationally with a fielding percentage of .982. The ‘Jacks have committed only nine errors in 2017 and are one of three Southland Conference programs who have single-digit errors this season.
• Last Tuesday night, senior shortstop Tyler Kendrick registered his second three-hit game of the season and doubled his season RBI total. Against Grambling State, Kendrick went 3-for-4 at the dish and drove in three runs, giving him six. Kendrick has reached base safely in his last seven outings - the longest current stretch among SFA’s ranks - and has started every game in the leadoff spot for SFA.
• Senior Conner Fikes collected two hits and an equal number of RBI for the ‘Jacks in their 9-2 win over Grambling State Tuesday night. The Rowlett, Texas, product now needs just 16 more hits to reach an even 200 in his career. Should he reach that plateau, Fikes would become just the fourth player in program history to amass 200 or more hits in a career.
• With six more at-bats, senior Nick Ramos will move from fifth to fourth in program history for career at-bats. The Plano, Texas, product is one of six players who have worn SFA colors to amass 600 or more at-bats in a career.
ON THE BENCH
On Thursday afternoon, SFA senior Clark Kahawaii found out he was one of 85 NCAA Division I catchers from around the nation who were listed on the official list for the 2017 Johnny Bench Award presented by BaseballSavings.com. One of only three Southland Conference student-athletes on the list, Kahawaii has taken part in seven of the ‘Jacks’ 14 games this season going 4-for-16 at the place with a pair of doubles. The Johnny Bench award is given annually to the top NCAA Division I catcher in the country.
SERIES HISTORY
SFA vs. Little Rock | 9-8 (.529)
Streak | Little Rock won one
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 4-5 (.444)
Streak | Little Rock won one
In Little Rock, Ark. | 5-3 (.625)
Streak | SFA won two
Last Game | at SFA 2, Little Rock 7 (5/3/16)
SFA Runs/per game | 86/5.1
Little Rock Runs/per game | 89/5.2
Last Little Rock win | 5/3/16 • 7-2
Last SFA win | 3/31/15 • 8-0
Cardenas vs. Little Rock | 6-4 (.600)
SCOUTING LITTLE ROCK | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
For the second time in as many seasons, the Trojans possess a pair of bats swinging at a rate of .400 or higher to pace their offense. Hunter Owens is the first of those batters and in Little Rock’s 13 contests he has posted a team-best batting average of .479 to go along with 16 of the Trojans’ 63 RBI.
Nine of the 42 Little Rock extra-base hits have come off the steel of Owens as he leads the team with seven doubles and a pair of home runs. Cameron Knight and his .442 average is the second part of the Trojans’ one-two punch at the plate. Of his 19 hits, four have gone for extra-bases and Knight is one of eight players on the Little Rock roster who have socked a home run so far in 2017.
All of the Trojans’ offense, however, did not yield wins early on. Little Rock dropped its first five games of the season before taking the last two games of a three-game home series against Big Ten opponent Purdue by a combined score of 15-0. After a 10-5 loss at Oklahoma, the Trojans returned home and proceeded to sweep Fort Wayne in a four-game series. Through that set, the Trojans outscored the Mastodons 34-10.
SFA’s offense faces a difficult test in the series opener as the Trojans plan to send right-handed ace Cory Malcom to the hill. Through 19.1 innings of work, Little Rock’s number-one has struck out 29 batters and issued just one base on balls. Boasting a minuscule 0.93 ERA, Malcom has surrendered only 13 hits and batters are connecting at a clip of only .183 against him.
Little Rock has won four of its last five games at Jaycees Field dating back to 2011. That stretch started on Feb. 19, 2011, with a 6-4 Trojan triumph in the second game of a four-game set between SFA and Little Rock.
COMING UP NEXT
Before they take part in the first Southland Conference series of the season, the ‘Jacks will take a short trip to Houston for a single game against Houston Baptist. The game, which is a non-conference tile, is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
-SFA-
