Stephen F. Austin
Texas Southern
'Jacks Welcome Texas Southern to Jaycees Field for 2018 Home Opener
3/5/2018 5:55:00 PM | Baseball
SFA seeks first win of 2018 when Tigers come to town
Game Eleven
Stephen F. Austin (0-10) vs. Texas Southern (2-9)
Tuesday, March 6 | 6:30 p.m. | Jaycees Field (1,000) | Nacogdoches, Texas | Weather Forecast
Live Stats | Watch
Pitching Matchup | RHP Austin Hearn (0-0, 1.93 ERA) vs. RHP Seth Oliver (0-2, 5.62 ERA)
LEADOFF HITS
• Following a 10-game stretch of games on the road to begin their 2018 season, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team is set to make its home debut Tuesday night when the 'Jacks welcome SWAC opponent Texas Southern to Jaycees Field for a non-conference tilt.
• Once the 'Jacks take the field against the Tigers, they will do so in search of their first win of the season. SFA is one of 11 winless teams in NCAA Division I baseball with the others being Cornell (0-6), Fairleigh Dickinson (0-3), Georgetown (0-9), Mississippi Valley State (0-8), Norfolk State (0-9), Princeton (0-4), Saint Peter's (0-3), Siena (0-11), Utah (0-10) and Western Illinois (0-9).
• Tuesday night's home opener will be the 25th in program history for the 'Jacks and more often than not SFA has come out on top in those tilts. SFA is 14-10 (.583) in home openers and under head coach Johnny Cardenas the team's record in openers is 7-2. Each of the 'Jacks' last three home openers has gone down in the books as a win, too.
• One season ago, playing at home was a boon for the 'Jacks who produced an impressive 21-7 (.750) record at Jaycees Field. Those 21 wins represented the most in a single season in head coach Johnny Cardenas' tenure and the most by the program since 1984. That season, the Darwin Walker-led 'Jacks racked up an impressive 27 wins in Nacogdoches.
• Junior Austin Hearn is set to make the first start of his career when the 'Jacks take on the Tigers. This season Hearn has appeared exclusively in a relief role, logging 4.2 innings of work in hist four appearances. One of only two SFA arms who have not allowed a walk this season, the Crosby, Texas, product's longest outing of the season came at UTRGV on Feb. 17 where he tossed two innings of one-hit ball.
SERIES HISTORY
SFA vs. Texas Southern | 7-0 (1.000)
Streak | SFA won seven
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 5-0 (1.000)
Streak | SFA won five
In Houston, Texas | 2-0 (1.000)
Streak | SFA won two
Last Game | at SFA 14, Texas Southern 0 (March 1, 2017)
SFA Runs/Per Game | 69/9.9
TSU Runs/Per Game | 16/2.3
Last TSU Win | n/a
Last SFA Win | March 1, 2017 (14-0)
SCOUTING TEXAS SOUTHERN | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Heading into Nacogdoches on a five-game skid, the Tigers' last action come in Lawrence, Kan., last weekend where they were swept by Big 12 foe Kansas in a three-game series between the two programs. Texas Southern's stop in Nacogdoches is the latest leg in the team's stretch of 17-straight road games to begin its 2018 season.
• Each of the Tigers' two victories this season have come against Southland Conference opposition. Texas Southern bested Lamar, 4-3, in Beaumont, Texas, on Feb. 18 for their first win of the season before collecting an 8-6 victory at Abilene Christian on Feb. 24.
• Tuesday night starting pitcher Seth Oliver will be making his first start of the season after appearing in six games out of the Tigers' bullpen so far this season. Oliver, who possesses the team's second-lowest ERA at 4.82, has tossed 9.1 frames this season and has collected the Tigers' lone save.
• As a staff, Texas Southern's ERA stands at 6.53 and opponents are batting .287 off of the Tigers' arms.
• Offensively, Kamren Dukes and Horace LeBlanc III (.308/.325/.333) possess the top two batting averages on the Tigers' roster. Each of them are batting above .300 with Dukes' mark of .326 representing the squad's top mark. Four of Dukes' team-leading 15 hits have been doubles but the true power in the Tigers' lineup flows from the bats of Christian Sanchez and Gaudencio Lucca.
• Three of Sanchez's 12 hits so far this season have been home runs and has help bring his RBI total to six. Lucca has belted a pair of long balls and leads the Tigers with seven RBI.
• The Tigers are one of only four NCAA Division I baseball teams who have turned a triple play this season.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
• Three of the 'Jacks' best bats in their lineup belong to underclassmen - two sophomores and a freshman, to be specific.
• First-year man Jared Martin leads SFA in a multitude of offensive categories including batting average (.378), on-base percentage (.489), hits (14), runs scored (10), doubles (six) and home runs (two).
• As a matter of fact, Martin's six doubles through 10 games represent the second-highest total in the Southland Conference and the 20th-highest total in all of NCAA Division I baseball. The freshman has joined forces with sophomore Skylar Black to provide a powerful punch in the middle of the 'Jacks' lineup.
• Black ranks second in the Southland in slugging percentage and owns a slash line of .357/.471/.750 through 10 games. Six of Black's 10 hits have been of the extra-base variety and include three doubles, SFA's only triple and two home runs. Black and Martin, who owns a slugging percentage of .703, both rank among the top five in the Southland in slugging percentage making SFA the only team in the league with two of the top five players in that category.
• Together, Black and Martin have produced 13 of the 'Jacks' 44 RBI. That works out to 29.5-percent of the team's total.
• Now in his second season as a member of the 'Jacks, Josh Campbell is the third member of SFA's regular lineup that boasts a batting average above .300. Campbell slashes at .304/.429/.435 currently and has driven in four runs.
FOUR SCORE
• The owner of the 'Jacks' lengthiest hit streak, junior Nick Daley has delivered at least one hit in each of SFA's last four games. In his first season in the purple and white, Daley brings an element of speed to the team and has been a mainstay in center field since game one.
• Daley's three stolen bases represent a team-high as do his seven walks. The junior joins Black and Martin as the only three players in the 'Jacks' lineup who have totaled 10 or more hits and three of Daley's base knocks have been doubles. Nine of SFA's 15 doubles this season have come from either Black, Daley or Martin.
COMING UP NEXT
• Friday evening at 6:30 p.m., the 'Jacks continue their eight-game home stand by welcoming Sun Belt Conference foe Louisiana-Monroe to Jaycees Field for the first game of a three-game set with the Warhawks.
-SFA-
