Stephen F. Austin
7-15, 2-3
Abilene Christian University
13-8, 2-6
SFA Powers Past Abilene Christian, 13-6, Behind Season-Best 17 Hits
3/24/2018 6:29:00 PM | Baseball
'Jacks score five in the first, hold off Wildcats' middle-inning charge
ABILENE, Texas - By bringing a substantial amount of firepower with it on its lengthy trip to Abilene, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team sits on the brink of claiming its first Southland Conference series sweep of the season.
A 17-hit assault powered by a game-high four base knocks off the stick of junior Jake Georgiades as well as three each from Nic Minor and Manny Vasquez gave the 'Jacks more than enough offense to hammer Abilene Christian 13-6 at Crutcher Scott Field and lock up the squad's first Southland Conference series victory of 2018.
Upon arriving in Abilene, the 'Jacks were staring a 13-game road losing streak squarely in the face but have forgotten all about that run of misfortune away from Nacogdoches by racking up a staggering 24 runs and 30 hits through their first pair of games in the series with the Wildcats.
In all, six SFA players drove in runs. None finished with more RBI than the three Martin racked up while Minor added a pair, too.
Wasting absolutely no time, SFA made an attempt to put the game out of reach before the first inning was in the books. Georgiades started the visitors' four-hit first inning with a single to right. Part of the reason why the 'Jacks enjoyed so much success in the frame was because of the Wildcats' inability to field anything cleanly.
Abilene Christian committed all four of its errors in the first inning including two on one play after Jared Martin reached on a dropped fly ball in right and moved to second on an additional fielding miscue by the Wildcats' right fielder.
Georgiades scored on a wild pitch tossed by ACU starter Brock Barger and Martin followed the junior home after ACU's catcher threw the ball away trying to gun Martin down at third. SFA compounded the damage by getting RBI singles from Eric DeJesus and Jarrod Huber as well as an ABI double by Vasquez which pushed its lead to 5-0 before the Wildcats even had a chance to step to the plate.
Nick Daley scampered home from third on a passed ball in the second inning, pushing the visitors' edge to 6-0 and giving freshman starting pitcher Sean Beasley a substantial lead to work with. The Tyler, Texas, product sat down nine of the first 10 batters he faced before Abilene Christian struck back and narrowed SFA's lead in the middle frames.
An RBI single by Matt Munoz in the fourth busted up the 'Jacks' shutout bid and the Wildcats added three more in the fifth - two of which came on a two-run single courtesy of Dalon Farkas - to cut SFA's lead to 6-4.
After not registering a run for three innings, the 'Jacks finally started to put some much-needed insurance runs on the board in the sixth. Martin's sacrifice fly in the Lumberjack sixth plated Daley and ensured the visitors would never lose the lead.
Continuing their comeback bid, the Wildcats plated two more scores in the sixth by way of an RBI single and a sacrifice fly. Those two runs pulled Abilene Christian to within one run, but relievers Cody Adams and Jesus Gamez made sure the Wildcats' bats wouldn't pose much of a threat the rest of the way.
Minor made the Wildcats pay for loading the bases in the seventh, starting SFA's three-run frame with a two-run single through the left side. Daley finished the scoring for the 'Jacks by breaking for home on a wild pitch fired by ACU reliever Briley Buckley.
Up 10-7, SFA watched Adams strike out a pair in the seventh and get out of the frame with a double play before Gamez extinguished the Wildcats' final threat in the eighth. SFA's junior entered with two men on and none out but calmly got out of trouble by getting ACU to fly out, ground out and pop out in order to keep the 'Jacks' lead at four.
Georgiades and Martin put the finishing touches on SFA's victory by striking for an RBI single and a two-run double respectively in the 'Jacks' three-run ninth.
With the early run support, Beasley (2-1) was able to pick up the second win of his collegiate career on the hill. The freshman fired five frames and gave up four runs on five hits and three walks in that time. Barger (2-1) took the tough-luck loss for the Wildcats by working just one inning and giving up six runs - none of which were earned.
Munoz, Riley Donahue and Derek Scott each finished with two of the Wildcats' nine hits.
Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m., the 'Jacks take aim at their first Southland Conference sweep of the season when they play the final game of the three-game set with the Wildcats. Senior right-hander Trevor Kiminski will get the start on the pitching rubber for SFA.
-SFA-
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Beasley, Sean (2-1)
L: Barger, B. (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Martin, Jared 1 ; Vasquez, Manny 1
RBI: Georgiades, Jake 1 ; Martin, Jared 3 ; DeJesus, Eric 1 ; Vasquez, Manny 1 ; Huber, Jarrod 1 ; Minor, Nic 2
SH: Daley, Nick 1 ; DeJesus, Eric 1
SF: Martin, Jared 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Daley, Nick 2 ; Georgiades, Jake 2 ; Martin, Jared 1 ; Evans, Josh 1 ; DeJesus, Eric 2 ; Vasquez, Manny 2 ; Huber, Jarrod 1 ; Williams, Cody 1 ; Minor, Nic 1
SB: Daley, Nick 1 ; Minor, Nic 1
Batting:
RBI: Eager, C. 1 ; Scott, D. 1 ; Farkas, D. 2 ; Munoz, M. 1 ; Ritchie, N. 1
SF: Eager, C. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Eager, C. 1 ; Scott, D. 2 ; Donahue, R. 1 ; Dunn, D. 1 ; Watts, S. 1
SB: Scott, D. 1
HBP: Dunn, D. 1
