Stephen F. Austin
14-25, 0
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
20-21, 0
Vasquez Caps 'Jacks' 10-inning, 11-10 Win over Islanders with Walk-Off Single
4/22/2018 5:59:00 PM | Baseball
Junior goes 3-for-6 with two RBI as 'Jacks avert sweep
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - On three occasions Sunday afternoon, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team needed to rally in order to prevent visiting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi from sweeping a three-game Southland Conference series.
In the last two of those instances, Manny Vasquez answered the call.
Down to his team's last strike in the bottom of the ninth, the junior shortstop forced extra innings with an RBI single before capping the home team's four-run 10th with a walk-off RBI single to deep left field in a thrilling 11-10 victory for the 'Jacks at Jaycees Field.
Vasquez and senior Josh Evans each went 3-for-6 and combined for three RBI to power the 'Jacks' 17-hit attack to back up an SFA pitching staff that used seven individuals - none of whom worked more than 2.2 frames against an Islanders' lineup that pounded out 11 hits and jumped in front by four runs in the eighth and three runs in the 10th.
"Initially what you're looking for in the 10th is for the first guy to battle and put some pressure on the opposing pitcher," explained SFA head coach Johnny Cardenas. "Once that happens, he has a little more trouble commanding the zone and we were able to use that to our advantage.
"Manny struggled throughout the series but really broke out of that mini-slump today," Cardenas continued. "He got a few chances to see some elevated pitches and did what good hitters do from there."
When Texas A&M-Corpus Christi pinch-hitter Scott Balfantz belted a pinch-hit solo homer to left-center off of SFA left-hander Cody Adams to put the visitors ahead 6-2, the probability of an SFA comeback took another hit. The 'Jacks' however, did what they needed to do to keep the line moving in the eighth and got back in the game as a result.
Eric DeJesus and Vasquez ripped one-out single to the outfield before Jarrod Huber loaded the bases by getting drilled with a pitch. From there, pinch-hitter Antonio Lima stepped to the plate and shot an RBI single through the Islanders' infield to start the 'Jacks' first rally.
Nic Minor's only hit of the game was a three-run double that split the gap in left center perfectly and knotted things up at 6-6.
In the top of the ninth, SFA's southpaw reliever Tyler Starks got the first two outs before a walk, a hit by pitch and an Enrique Sanchez RBI single pushed the Islanders back in front 7-6. Evans led off the bottom of the frame for the 'Jacks and ripped a 3-2 offering from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Chris Cooper to the gap in left-center before getting pulled for pinch runner Nick Daley.
Daley raced home all the way from second after Vasquez drove Cooper's 3-2 offering to left field for an RBI single in the ninth, but when the Islanders struck for three runs on four hits in the top of the 10th to open up a 10-7 lead all of the 'Jacks' heroics in the eighth and ninth seemed to be all for naught.
Instead, the home team mounted its final rally in the bottom of the 10th. Kyle Cullen and Minor greeted Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Payton Bauer with consecutive singles before Jake Georgiades punched an RBI single to left that scored Cullen.
Georgiades took a wide turn around first and wound up at second after an errant toss by the Islanders' left fielder. That bad throw helped Minor come home from second, cutting the visitors' lead to 10-9.
Skylar Black drew a walk to lead the bases with one out before a sacrifice fly off the bat of DeJesus tied things up at 10-10 to set up Vasquez's game-winning hit.
SFA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi swapped runs in the first before the Islanders went up by three, 4-1, by using three hits, a pair of walks and a hit by pitch in their three-run third. The 'Jacks were limited to just seven hits through the first seven innings before their bats heated up to the tune of 10 hits through the final three frames.
Freshman Jordan Powell (3-0) received credit for the win on the mound for SFA as the first-year man tossed the final two-thirds of the 10th. Cody Lecompte (1-1) took the loss for the Islanders who received three hits from Andruid Martinez and another two from Sanchez and Drake Osborne in the setback.
Tuesday evening in Fort Worth, Texas, SFA is set to take on Big 12 adversary TCU at Lupton Stadium. First pitch between the 'Jacks and Horned Frogs has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
-SFA-
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Powell, Jordan (3-0)
L: Cody Lecompte (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Harrison Dinicola 1 ; Dalton Stark 1
HR: Scott Balfantz 1
RBI: Jackson Owens 1 ; Harrison Dinicola 1 ; Nick Anderson 1 ; Itchy Burts 1 ; Enrique Sanchez Jr 1 ; Thomas Jeffries IV 1 ; Scott Balfantz 1 ; Drake Osborn 2
SH: Enrique Sanchez Jr 1 ; Steven Rivera-Chijin 1
SF: Jackson Owens 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jackson Owens 1 ; Harrison Dinicola 1 ; Nick Anderson 2 ; Itchy Burts 1 ; Scott Balfantz 1 ; Dalton Stark 1 ; Drake Osborn 1 ; Andriud Martinez 2
SB: Nick Anderson 1
CS: Andriud Martinez 1
HBP: Itchy Burts 2 ; Drake Osborn 1
Batting:
2B: Minor, Nic 1 ; Georgiades, Jake 1 ; Evans, Josh 2 ; DeJesus, Eric 1
RBI: Minor, Nic 3 ; Georgiades, Jake 1 ; Evans, Josh 1 ; Black, Skylar 1 ; DeJesus, Eric 1 ; Vasquez, Manny 2 ; Lima, Antonio 1
SF: DeJesus, Eric 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Minor, Nic 1 ; Martin, Jared 1 ; Evans, Josh 1 ; Daley, Nick 1 ; Kimball, Tyler 1 ; DeJesus, Eric 1 ; Vasquez, Manny 1 ; Huber, Jarrod 1 ; Williams, Cody 1 ; Lima, Antonio 1 ; Cullen, Kyle 1
HBP: Huber, Jarrod 1
