DeJesus' Solo Homer Backs Kiminski's Strong Start as SFA Gets By SHSU, 2-1

Sunday, April 15

Huntsville, Texas

1:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

13-22, 5-10

Sam Houston State

25-11, 13-2

Stephen F. Austin

Sam Houston State

Photo by: Cedrique Flemming | Texas State Athletics

DeJesus' Solo Homer Backs Kiminski's Strong Start as SFA Gets By SHSU, 2-1

4/15/2018 5:05:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Kiminski tosses 6.1 innings to pick up second win of 2018

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - All season long, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team had been in search of a quality start from a member of its pitching staff.

Sunday afternoon at Don Sanders Stadium, Trevor Kiminski obliged.

Kiminski turned in the longest start by a Lumberjack starting pitcher in nearly 11 months by working 6.1 innings and aided by Eric DeJesus' tiebreaking solo homer with two outs in the top of the sixth SFA posted a 2-1 victory over the Bearkats at Don Sanders Stadium Sunday afternoon.

The product of Brooklyn Park, Minn., did not have to turn in an overpowering outing as he finished with only three strikeouts. Instead, the senior relied on a variety of pitches to keep the Bearkats guessing.

"With us using so many arms on Friday and Saturday it was imperative to get a good start out of Trevor," commented SFA head coach Johnny Cardenas who watched his team limit the Bearkats to just one run for the second time this season. "He did a great job limiting the number of pitches he threw by going right after the hitters out of the gate and that really helped us."

In a game that featured just seven hits, the 'Jacks made the most of their three when it counted. The 'Jacks used a total of four pitchers to join then-21st ranked Mississippi State as the only other team this season that succeeded in holding the Bearkats' offense to just a single run.

Kiminski cruised through the first two frames, sitting down the first six Bearkats he faced before he was forced to navigate through the only rough patch of his outing in the bottom of the third. Jack Rogers started the frame by ripping a leadoff triple to the gap in right center and from there the Bearkats took their only lead when Jordon Cannon's sacrifice fly plated Rogers.

Following that score, Kiminski recovered nicely and got out of the frame with a flyout before Huber threw out Trey Ochoa at second on a stolen base attempt. After a scoreless fourth, the 'Jacks tied things up in the top of the fifth, beginning their rally when Nic Minor got hit by a pitch with one out.

A productive out by Nick Daley moved Minor to second, setting the table for Jake Georgiades who punched an 0-2 pitch from Sam Houston State starter Hayden Wesneski to the gap in right center for an RBI single which knotted matters at one.

With the game tied once again, Kiminski sat the Bearkats down in order in the fifth before DeJesus gave the 'Jacks the only other offense they needed.

Wesneski retired Josh Evans and Manny Vasquez to begin SFA's sixth, but DeJesus erased any plans the Bearkats' starter had for a one, two, three inning when the senior got a hold of a 1-1 offering and blasted it out beyond the fence in right field to put the visitors in front for good.

"In games like that, the most unlikely of guys can be the hero," Cardenas continued. "Eric got a pitch he liked in the zone and did what he needed to do with it."

Kiminski tossed a perfect sixth before running into trouble in the seventh. The senior hit the first two batters he faced in that frame, but got Clayton Harp to fly out to left for the frame's first out. That out was the final one Kiminski had for the day as the right-hander was pulled in favor of Cody Adams.

The left-handed junior issued a five-pitch walk to load the bases and started Rogers out with a 2-0 count before striking out the Bearkat. With the bases still loaded, junior Austin Hearn came on and ended Sam Houston State's threat by getting Cannon to fly out to right.

Hearn went on to sit down the first two Sam Houston State batters in the second before giving up an infield single. From there, Jesus Gamez took over and struck out Hunter Hearn on four pitches to send the game to the ninth.

Tyler Starks - who wears number 42 and found himself in a save situation on the MLB's Jackie Robinson Day - got the second shot he wanted at the Bearkats in the ninth. After giving up four runs to Sam Houston State in the bottom of the ninth during the 'Jacks' game one loss Friday night, the junior picked up his second save of the season by sitting down three of the four Bearkats he faced in the ninth.

SFA's pitching staff stranded six Sam Houston State runners on the base paths and racked up six strikeouts against two walks.

"I'm very proud of the efforts of our pitching staff this weekend," Cardenas finished. "They kept us in every ball game and we had a little hiccup on Friday night with Starks but he came in today and did what he normally does and that's close the door."

After ending their seven-game road trip with a win, the 'Jacks return to Nacogdoches for their next four games. SFA begins that four-game stretch Tuesday evening by hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a non-conference showdown at Jaycees Field. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.

-SFA-