Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short for SFA in 5-3 Loss to Central Michigan

Friday, February 16

Edinburg, Texas

3:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

0-1

Central Michigan University

1-0

Central Michigan

Stephen F. Austin

Photo by: Hardy Meredith | SFA Photography

Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short for SFA in 5-3 Loss to Central Michigan

2/16/2018 7:05:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Daley drives in two but SFA pitchers issue 16 free passes in non-conference setback

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

EDINBURG, Texas - Dating back to the 2014 season, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team had not lost a season opener, but that streak came to an end at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium Friday evening as the 'Jacks dropped a 5-3 decision to MAC adversary Central Michigan in the opening game of the Al Ogletree Classic.

SFA owned an 8-6 advantage in hits over the Chippewas, but the most glaring difference in the final lines came in the number of free passes issued by the 'Jacks' six-man pitching battalion in the non-conference affair. For the game, the 'Jacks passed out a total of 16 free passes to the Chippewas which included nine walks and seven CMU batters hit by a pitch.

Any plans the 'Jacks had of unleashing any kind of sustained offensive assault were put on hold until at Saturday morning at the earliest by the performance of Central Michigan starting pitcher Michaell Brettell. Through seven innings of work and en route to his first win of 2018, the right-hander accumulated 10 strikeouts without issuing a walk, making offense a difficult commodity to come by for the 'Jacks.

Only one of Central Michigan's six hits turned into a run, but unfortunately for the 'Jacks it was the first one of the game and ensured the SFA would never lead. Junior lefty Seth Campbell received the opening day start for the 'Jacks and was greeted by a leadoff double off the bat of Zach Gilles.

Two groundouts later, the Chippewas grabbed a 1-0 lead which turned out to be more than enough for Brettell to work with. Through the first five innings, only two SFA baserunners moved into scoring position and both of those occurrences came in the second inning. Josh Evans and Jared Martin started the frame with back-to-back singles and moved to second and third after a flyout off the bat of Luis Santiago.

That set the table for designated hitter Jhon Santos, but the Santiago, Dominican Republic product ended the 'Jacks' threat by going down on strikes.

Following that SFA scoring chance, the Chippewas padded their lead in the third after Campbell started the inning with three-straight walks. After striking out Dazlon Cole, the southpaw was tagged for an RBI single to shallow center by Griffin Lockwood-Powell before he plunked Zach Heeke with the bases loaded to increase CMU's lead to 3-0.

Senior Cole Ridgely took the mound after that and was the 'Jacks' best relief arm of the evening. Through 2.2 frames, the righty let up only one hit and watched Central Michigan bounce into six groundouts.

Finally, in the home half of the sixth, the 'Jacks finally got to Brettell. A one-out single by Josh Campbell followed up by a two-out single from Martin set up junior Manny Vasquez who send a high chopper up the middle that scored Campbell from second and cut the Chippewas' lead to 3-1.

Central Michigan was able to get that run back in short order, however, as junior Cody Adams delivered two more walks and hit another pair of batters in the top of the seventh that pushed another Chippewa score across home plate.

Jordan Powell tossed a scoreless eighth for the 'Jacks but ran into trouble in the ninth when he walked three-straight batters with one out. Austin Hearn came on for Powell, but he drilled Gilles with the bases loaded, plating CMU's final run.

With Brettell out of the game, the 'Jacks' offense finally roared to life against Colton Bradley in the bottom of the ninth. Santiago began SFA's rally with a one-out single to left and pinch hitter Will Cerny followed up with a walk. After a wild pitch moved SFA's pair of baserunners into scoring position, junior Nick Daley rapped a two-out, two-run double to left-center which trimmed CMU's lead to 5-3. Eric DeJesus managed to coax a walk out of Bradley to put runners on the corners but Josh Campbell struck out looking to end the game.

Martin went 2-for-4 in his collegiate debut while Lockwood-Powell led Central Michigan with a 3-for-3 performance at the place that yielded an RBI and a run scored.

Still in search of their first win of 2018, the 'Jacks get another try to obtain it Saturday morning at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium. At 11:00 a.m., SFA is set to take on Al Ogletree Classic host UTRGV for the first time since 2011. Right-hander and SFA newcomer Jake Norton is expected to get the start on the hill for the 'Jacks and UTRGV righty Chase Adams will oppose him.

-SFA-