Stephen F. Austin
4-11
Prairie View A&M
2-9
Campbell and DeJesus Lead the Way as 'Jacks Blast Prairie View A&M 13-6
3/13/2018 10:38:00 PM | Baseball
Campbell drives in four, DeJesus three as SFA makes it three-straight wins
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - A powerful offense, not to mention the wins that have come along with it, were quite hard to come by during the Stephen F. Austin baseball team's 10-game road trip to open the 2018 season. Now, however, they are as close to a sure thing as the squad can get. It has all come together for the team at Jayees Field, making the 'Jacks extremely content in reaping the rewards that playing at home has afforded it over the last week.
Josh Campbell drove in four runs and collected a game-best three hits, Eric DeJesus busted things wide open with a three-run triple in SFA's five-run sixth inning and the 'Jacks ran their winning streak to three games by hammering Prairie View A&M 13-6 Tuesday night.
Though the Panthers - who came to Nacogdoches following a two-game sweep at the hands of Sam Houston State that saw the Bearkats outscore them 20-1 - were able to keep pace with the 'Jacks early one, sophomore Logan Ammons put forth a splendid middle relief effort to secure his first win in an SFA uniform.
After Prairie View A&M plated five runs through SFA starter Josh Ponder's 4.1 innings of work, Ammons took over for Aaron Cardona who tossed two-thirds of a frame and shut the Panthers down the rest of the way. Ammons tossed three frames of one-hit, one-run baseball and racked up four of the 'Jacks' seven strikeouts on the night in the process.
Trayson Kubo tossed a scoreless ninth for SFA who has won four of its five games at Jaycees Field after an 0-10 start to the season. Senior Josh Evans reached base for the first of five times on the night by delivering a first-inning RBI single that scored Skylar Black and put the home team up 1-0 early. Evans' on-base percentage took a substantial hike, too, as the 'Jacks' five-hole hitter finished 1-for-1 with four walks on the night.
A sacrifice fly by the Panthers tied things up for a bit before capitalized on some Prairie View A&M pitching woes in the second. SFA drew four walks in the home half of the second - the last of which saw Manny Vasquez receive credit for an RBI after moving to first with the bases loaded - and a Prairie View A&M error elongated the inning for SFA.
In all, four of the 'Jacks' five runs in the second were of the unearned variety and Campbell capped his squad's high-scoring frame with a two-run single to left that made matters 6-1. Piling it on, SFA plated two more in the fourth and ended the inning with an RBI double off the bat of Nic Minor that increased its lead to 8-1 before the Panthers came roaring back.
Prairie View A&M's offense came to life with a four-hit, four-run fifth that cut the 'Jacks' lead to 8-5 before Cardona got Andrew Garcia to bounce into an inning-ending double play. The visitors made it a two-run game in the sixth by getting an RBI single courtesy of Tyler Gordon, but SFA regained control in the home half of the inning.
Black began SFA's five-run inning with a single before a walk by Evans put runners at first and second. Following a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Kimball, Campbell stepped up to that plate and punched a two-run single left field line.
Two more walks set the stage for DeJesus' bases-clearing triple that accounted for the game's final score.
Minor was the only other SFA player to join Campbell in multi-hit territory as the 'Jacks' right fielder went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Campbell, Evans, Nick Daley and Jared Martin each scored two of the 'Jacks' season-high 13 runs.
For the Panthers, Jalyn Baker and Daniel Lingua each struck for a pair of hits. On the pitching rubber, Jordan Johnson (0-1) suffered the loss by lasting just 1.2 frames and giving up six runs.
This weekend, Southland Conference play begins and with it comes a visit by league foe McNeese. The Cowboys and 'Jacks start their three-game league set Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
-SFA-
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ammons, Logan (1-0)
L: J. Johnson (0-1)
Batting:
2B: J. Baker 1 ; D. Lingua 1 ; A. Garcia 1
RBI: J. Baker 1 ; D. Lingua 1 ; C. Jamison 1 ; T. Gordon 1
SH: A. Garcia 1
SF: C. Jamison 1
Base Running:
RUNS: J. Baker 1 ; D. Lingua 1 ; S. Williams 1 ; C. Jamison 1 ; K. Lewis 1 ; T. Gordon 1
SB: X. Jefferson 1 ; S. Williams 1 ; T. Gordon 1
HBP: T. Gordon 1
Batting:
2B: Minor, Nic 1
3B: DeJesus, Eric 1
RBI: DeJesus, Eric 3 ; Black, Skylar 1 ; Evans, Josh 1 ; Vasquez, Manny 1 ; Campbell, Josh 4 ; Minor, Nic 1
SH: Kimball, Tyler 1
SF: Black, Skylar 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Daley, Nick 2 ; DeJesus, Eric 1 ; Martin, Jared 2 ; Black, Skylar 1 ; Evans, Josh 2 ; Vasquez, Manny 1 ; Campbell, Josh 2 ; Lima, Antonio 1 ; Minor, Nic 1
CS: Daley, Nick 1
HBP: Daley, Nick 1
