Stephen F. Austin
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
SFA Welcomes Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to Jaycees Field for Southland Series
4/19/2018 5:53:00 PM | Baseball
'Jacks have won eight of last nine regular season series against Islanders
Game Thirty-Seven
Stephen F. Austin (13-23, 5-10 Southland) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (18-20, 3-12 Southland)
Friday, April 20 | 6:30 p.m. | Jaycees Field (1,000) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (Facebook Live) | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | LHP Dru Dziedzic (1-2, 4.89 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Hernandez (1-5, 4.17 ERA)
Game Thirty-Eight
Stephen F. Austin (13-23, 5-10 Southland) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (18-20, 3-12 Southland)
Saturday, April 21 | 2:00 p.m. | Jaycees Field (1,000) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (Facebook Live) | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | RHP Sean Beasley (2-2, 7.14 ERA) vs. RHP Leonel Perez (4-3, 4.97 ERA)
Game Thirty-Nine | Sponsored by Whataburger
Stephen F. Austin (13-23, 5-10 Southland) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (18-20, 3-12 Southland)
Sunday, April 22 | 1:00 p.m. | Jaycees Field (1,000) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (Facebook Live) | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | RHP Trevor Kiminski (2-4, 4.89 ERA) vs. RHP Dustin Lacaze (2-3, 4.96 ERA)
LEADOFF HITS
• With exactly half of its 30-game Southland Conference schedule in the books, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team sits one game back of the eighth and final spot in the league standings meaning a strong push in the second half of the conference season is what the 'Jacks need to get themselves into Southland Conference Tournament contention. SFA can begin making that push at 6:30 p.m. Friday evening at Jaycees Field when the 'Jacks welcome Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to Texas' oldest town for a three-game Southland Conference series.
• Meetings 41, 42 and 43 between the 'Jacks and Islanders will be seen on the SFA Athletics Facebook Page via Facebook Live. Sunday's series finale is sponsored by Whataburger.
• Since 2010, the 'Jacks have gone 17-9 (.654) and won seven of their eight regular season series against the Islanders. The only year that Texas A&M-Corpus Christi picked up a series win came in 2013 when the Islanders took two out of three from SFA at Jaycees Field.
• Junior outfielder Nick Daley added to his ever-growing stolen base total in the 'Jacks' setback to Arkansas-Pine Bluff Tuesday evening by swiping three bags. That gives the Gilbert, Ariz., product a Southland Conference-best 21 stolen bases in 2018 which is also the 13th-highest in all of NCAA Division I baseball.
• Daley's 21 stolen bases this year are tied for the fourth-most in a single season in program history and with nine more swipes Daley would become only the third SFA player ever to amass 30 or more stolen bags in a single season.
• By belting another home run in SFA's Tuesday night tilt with Arkansas-Pine Bluff, freshman outfielder Jared Martin rose back into the top ten in the Southland Conference in terms of slugging percentage. The Frisco, Texas, product ranks 10th in the league with a .529 slugging percentage figure and his five homers are the 12th-most by any Southland Conference player this season.
• Between Martin and senior first baseman Josh Evans, 11 of the 'Jacks' 27 home runs are represented. Evans has blasted six long balls this year to lead the team and rank fifth in the Southland Conference. As a team, the 'Jacks' have hammered 27 home runs - the third-most in the Southland. SFA also ranks third in the league with 177 total walks and is one of the league's best at avoiding strikeouts. SFA's 242 punchouts are the third-fewest in the 13-team conference.
• Perhaps Martin's most impressive feat is the fact that the first-year man has reached base in each of his last 34 games. That represents the 21st-longest active streak in all of NCAA Division I baseball and the lengthiest active stretch in the Southland Conference.
• In all, Martin leads SFA in six statistical categories including batting average (.319), hits (44), runs (33), RBI (29) and slugging percentage (.529).
• Martin is one of three SFA regulars who are currently batting .300 or better. Also included in that group is junior Jake Georgiades (.316/.425/.357) and senior Eric DeJesus (.303/.439/.424). Each of those three have an on-base percentage north of .420, too, making them the only three players on SFA's roster who do.
• The 'Jacks are hoping to build on a series which yielded some of their best pitching performances of the season. Against Sam Houston State last week in Huntsville, Texas, SFA's pitching staff posted an ERA of 4.62 and received the longest start by a starting pitcher in almost a full calendar year when Trevor Kiminski worked 6.1 innings in a 2-1 SFA win Sunday afternoon.
• Junior right-hander Jesus Gamez still owns the 'Jacks' lowest ERA with a mark of 3.18.Opponents are batting only .176 against the set-up man who has struck out 27 in 22.2 innings of work across 20 appearances.
• Left-hander Tyler Starks has picked up two of the 'Jacks' six saves this season, pushing his career total to 13. Those 13 saves are tied for the fourth-most in program history.
SERIES HISTORY vs. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
Record vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 23-17 (.575)
Streak | SFA won one
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 7-7 (.500)
Streak | SFA won one
In Corpus Christi, Texas | 15-8 (.652)
Streak | SFA won one
Last game | at A&M-CC 1, SFA 5 (April 23, 2017)
SFA runs/per game | 270/6.8
A&M-CC runs/per game | 225/5.6
Last SFA win | April 23, 2017 (at A&M-CC 1, SFA 5)
Last A&M-CC win | April 22, 2017 (at A&M-CC 8, SFA 5)
Cardenas vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 18-11 (.621)
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• After getting off to a blistering 10-2 start which included a win over then-21st-ranked Mississippi State, the Islanders have won just eight of their last 26 ballgames including two of their last 10. Last weekend, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was swept in its three-game Southland Conference series with Lamar and finished the set with a run differential of -17 to drop to 3-12 in league action.
• The top bat in the Islanders' lineup belongs to junior Harrison DiNicola. The third-year man is batting .317/.418/.531 and leads the team in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, hits (46), runs (31), RBI (23), doubles (10), home runs (five), extra-base hits (18) and walks (25).
• Jackson Owens (.309/.408/.488) has tied DiNicola for the team lead in RBI having also driven in 23. The infielder's 14 extra-base hits include a team-best six triples and he has accounted for 10 of the Islanders' 52 stolen bases this season, too.
• Sophomore Itchy Burts has become a bigger part of the Islanders' offense as of late and is batting .356/.391/.424 with 10 RBI in 24 games played.
• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi leads the Southland Conference with 14 triples and ranks second with 21 sacrifice flies.
• The Islanders' pitching staff has racked up 330 strikeouts this season, second only to New Orleans (398) in the Southland Conference. Friday night starter Aaron Hernandez has been the main driving force behind the Islanders' strikeout numbers having amassed 69 of them on his own.
• Freshman A.G. Ayala possesses the Islanders' best ERA at 1.86 and is 2-1 through his 16 appearances out of the bullpen. Chris Cooper (0-1, 3.66 ERA) serves as the Islanders' closer and has accounted for four of the team's seven saves.
COMING UP NEXT
• Only three non-conference midweek games remain on the 'Jacks' 2018 schedule and the first of those three is set to take place Tuesday evening in Fort Worth, Texas, when SFA tangles with Big 12 adversary TCU. First pitch at Lupton Stadium has been set for 6:30 p.m.
-SFA-
