Stephen F. Austin
Central Michigan University
'Jacks Begin 2018 Season in Edinburg at UTRGV's Al Ogletree Classic
2/16/2018 12:26:00 AM | Baseball
SFA to face Central Michigan and UTRGV in four-game opening weekend
Game One
Stephen F. Austin (0-0) vs. Central Michigan (0-0)
Friday, Feb. 16 | 3:00 p.m. | UTRGV Baseball Stadium | Edinburg, Texas | Weather Forecast
Live Stats
Pitching Matchup | LHP Seth Campbell (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Brettell (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game Two
Stephen F. Austin (0-0) at UTRGV (0-0)
Saturday, Feb. 17 | 11:00 a.m. | UTRGV Baseball Stadium | Edinburg, Texas | Weather Forecast
Live Stats | Watch (WAC Digital Network)
Pitching Matchup | RHP Jake Norton (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Chase Adams (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game Three
Stephen F. Austin (0-0) vs. Central Michigan (0-0)
Sunday, Feb. 18 | 11:00 a.m. | UTRGV Baseball Stadium | Edinburg, Texas | Weather Forecast
Live Stats
Pitching Matchup | LHP Dru Dziedzic (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Zach Kohn (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game Four
Stephen F. Austin (0-0) at UTRGV (0-0)
Sunday, Feb. 18 | 3:00 p.m. | UTRGV Baseball Stadium | Edinburg, Texas | Weather Forecast
Live Stats | Watch (WAC Digital Network)
Pitching Matchup | RHP Trevor Kiminski (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Trevelle Hill (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
LEADOFF HITS
• For the fifth time in the last seven seasons, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team will open its season on the road, this time as one of three teams that comprise the field for the Al Ogletree Classic at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg, Texas.
• SFA is set to do battle with MAC adversary Central Michigan in what will serve as both the leadoff game of the Classic and the season opener for both squads Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The following day, the 'Jacks go up against host UTRGV at 11:00 a.m. before finishing the weekend with a doubleheader against the Chippewas (11:00 a.m.) and the Vaqueros (3:00 p.m.).
• In the NCAA Division I history of the Lumberjacks' baseball program, SFA has posted a 9-15 (.375) record in season-opening games. Of those nine wins, four have come in each of the last four seasons as SFA has not dropped a season opener since falling to South Alabama 7-6 to begin the 2013 campaign.
• In order to stretch their streak of season-opening wins to five, however, the 'Jacks will have to do something they have never done: defeat an opponent at a neutral site. SFA is 0-3 when opening its season against an opponent at a neutral site with those losses coming in 2012 (11-0 vs. Portland), 2009 (4-3 vs. Mississippi Valley State) and 2008 (8-7 vs. Texas State).
• Friday begins Johnny Cardenas' 10th season as the 'Jacks' head coach. In the tenure of SFA's winningest head coach (244 total victories) the 'Jacks have gone 6-3 (.667) in season openers.
THE MATCHUP | SFA vs. CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Record vs. CMU | 1-2 (.333)
Streak | CMU won one
In Nacogdoches | 0-0 (.000)
Streak | none
In Mount Pleasant | 0-0 (.000)
Streak | none
At Neutral Sites | 1-2 (.333)
Streak | CMU won one
Last Game | CMU 11, SFA 5 (3/3/91)
SFA Runs/Per Game | 25/8.3
CMU Runs/Per Game | 36/12.0
Last CMU Win | March 3, 1991 • 11-5
Last SFA Win | March 2, 1991 • 14-12
Cardenas vs. Central Michigan | 0-0 (.000)
THE MATCHUP | SFA vs. UTRGV
Record vs. UTRGV | 17-5 (.773)
Streak | SFA won five
In Nacogdoches | 11-4 (.733)
Streak | SFA won four
In Edinburg | 6-1 (.857)
Streak | none
At Neutral Sites | 0-0 (.000)
Streak | none
Last Game | at SFA 6, UTRGV 3 (5/17/11)
SFA Runs/Per Game | 156/7.1
UTRGV Runs/Per Game | 110/5.0
Last UTRGV Win | April 15, 2009 • 9-8 (10)
Last SFA Win | May 7, 2011 • 6-3
Cardenas vs. UTRGV | 6-1 (.857)
SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2017 STATISTICS
• Led by 16th-year skipper Steve Jaksa, the Chippewas were chosen for a runner-up finish in the race for the 2018 Mid-America Conference (MAC) regular season title when the league's preseason poll was unveiled.
• If one were to choose the single biggest strength of Central Michigan, it would be difficult to pick against its pitching staff. At the conclusion of the 2017 regular season, three of the Chippewas' arms - Colton Bradley, Tyler Hankins and Pat Leatherman earned All-MAC Second Team laurels. Hankins excelled further by being named the MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year.
• Hankins made quite the splash in his collegiate debut season, posting a 6-1 record through his 15 appearances - 14 of which were starts. No Central Michigan player logged more innings than Hankins (91.2) and the then-freshman tossed a pair of complete games to help his ERA settle at a mark of 3.83.
• Leatherman made his living with the strikeout last season, racking up a team-high 83 of them through 86.1 innings to help his ERA sit at 3.86. With a 7-4 record, Leatherman led CMU in pitching victories and ranked second in terms of total innings pitched (86.1).
• Bradley serves as the relief ace of the bunch, and rightfully so after submitting a 6-2 record to go along with 10 of the Chippewas' 12 saves in 2017. Although he never started a game, Bradley's 48.1 innings were the fifth-highest total on the team.
• Offensively, there wasn't much Daniel Jipping failed to do at the plate in 2017, but after he joined up with the Colorado Rockies organization after the Chippewas' regular season ended the team's offense could be led by Daniel Robinson. He started all 59 games and batted .305/.389/.362 with 39 RBI and he'll be joined by Evan Kratt who hit .302/.386/.337 with 30 RBI as the team's top two returners on offense.
SCOUTING UTRGV | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2017 STATISTICS
• Longtime Texas State (2007-12) and West Virginia (2013-17) recruiting coordinator and pitching coach Derek Matlock takes the reins of the Vaqueros' program in 2018 in what is his first NCAA Division I head coaching assignment.
• Following a season in which they finished in a tie for eighth in the nine-team Western Athletic Conference (WAC), the Vaqueros have been tabbed for a seventh-place finish according to the league's 2018 preseason poll.
• UTRGV's leader in batting average (.317), hits (60) and stolen bases (11) from a season ago, Conrad McMahon returns to Edinburg for his junior season. The outfielder from Kansas City, Mo., is one of two Vaquero regulars who hit north of .300 last season and return in 2018. The other man on that list is junior infielder Anthony Gomez who batted .307/.410/.404 through 41
games in 2017.
• Back for his senior season is pitching ace Carter Johnson who posted a 5-5 record to go along with his 2.70 ERA in 2017. Through 80 innings of work, Johnson sat down 87 batters via the strikeout, tossed a pair of complete games and ranked second in the WAC in terms of hits allowed per nine innings (7.20).
• Relief ace Luis Acosta returns after accumulating six of the Vaqueros' 11 saves in 2017. In 21 appearances, Acosta struck out 32 in 35.1 frames and finished with an ERA of 5.60.
WE'RE NOT JOSHING
• The numbers put up by Josh Evans in his debut season with SFA in 2017 have the Lumberjacks eager to see if the Ponca City, Okla., product could possibly surpass his effectiveness in his senior year.
• Named the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year, an All-Southland Conference First Team pick and an ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I All-South Region First Team choice, Evans boasted the country's 19th-highest batting average, hitting at a Southland Conference-leading clip of .383. Add to that the rest of his slash line (.440 on-base percentage and .638 slugging percentage) and Evans was one of just two players in the Southland to rank among the top ten in each of the three batting categories.
• Evans' 10 home runs led the 'Jacks last season and in all he drove in 38 runs through 51 games played.
• A designated hitter last season, Evans will start out the season playing first base. He made just one start there in addition to some spot duty but did post a perfect fielding percentage.
• Evans is one of 25 NCAA Division I baseball players in the state of Texas who were named to the 2018 Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award watch list, too. That announcement came on Sunday, Feb. 11.
DOUBLE DOWN
• Possessing one of the nation's best infields in terms of turning double plays last season, the 'Jacks racked up 55 double plays. That total ranked second in the Southland Conference and 20th nationally.
• On average, that worked out to 0.96 double plays per game - a mark that was also the second-best in the Southland and 28th in the land.
A-O"K"
• A good portion - 41.1-percent to be precise - of the 'Jacks' strikeout power from last season returns for the 2018 campaign.
• SFA boasted a strikeouts per nine innings figure of 8.1 in 2017 which ranked second in the Southland Conference. Two of the team's top three strikeout leaders - senior Trevor Kiminski (54) and junior Tyler Starks (50) - are back to try and help the 'Jacks' pitching staff retain its reputation as one that can rack up the punch-outs.
THE REPLACEMENTS
• With 65-percent of SFA's run total and 73.9-percent of the squad's RBI total from a year ago no longer with the team due to graduation and exhausted eligibility, the big question for the 'Jacks becomes who will be the ones to pick up all of that slack.
• That will be the job of a 22-man crop of newcomers coupled with the 'Jacks' 14 returning letterwinners. In all, SFA will need to replace all three starting outfielders and three of the five infield positions.
POLL POSITION
• The Southland Conference head coaches and sports information personnel envisioned a third-straight trip to the Southland Conference Tournament for the 'Jacks who were chosen to finish eighth in the 13-team league when the league revealed its 2018 preseason poll.
2018 Southland Conference Preseason Baseball Poll
Place. School (first-place votes) | Total Points
1. Sam Houston State (18) | 282
2. Southeastern Louisiana (7) | 261
3. McNeese (1) | 246
4. Central Arkansas | 202
5. Houston Baptist | 185
6. Lamar | 172
7. New Orleans | 168
8. Stephen F. Austin | 144
9. Nicholls | 122
10. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 92
11. Northwestern State | 74
T12. Abilene Christian | 40
T12. Incarnate Word | 40
ON DECK
• SFA challenges its first nationally-ranked opponent of the season Tuesday night in College Station, Texas, when the 'Jacks go up against No. 10 Texas A&M. First pitch at Blue Bell Park is set for 6:30 p.m. and the non-conference tilt will be streamed nationwide on SEC Network+.
-SFA-
