Stephen F. Austin
TCU
'Jacks Clash with TCU Tuesday Evening in Fort Worth
4/23/2018 5:04:00 PM | Baseball
SFA makes run at second-straight win over Horned Frogs
Game Forty
Stephen F. Austin (14-25) at TCU (18-16)
Tuesday, April 24 | 6:30 p.m. | Lupton Stadium (4,500) | Fort Worth, Texas
Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | RHP Jordan Powell (3-0, 5.68 ERA) vs. LHP Russell Smith (2-2, 3.63 ERA)
LEADOFF HITS
• The starting point of a four-game road swing for the Stephen F. Austin baseball team is Fort Worth, Texas, as the 'Jacks take aim at back-to-back wins over TCU for the third time in program history when the clubs square off at Lupton Stadium Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday night's non-conference tilt with the Horned Frogs represents the first of two 2018 meetings between SFA and TCU with the second showdown set for late May in Nacogdoches. Last season, the 'Jacks bested then-fourth-ranked TCU, 6-2, at Lupton Stadium, giving SFA its first win over the Horned Frogs since 2013.
• In non-conference action this season, the 'Jacks have gone 8-13 and in those games Jared Martin and Josh Evans have been SFA's best pair of batters. Martin, SFA's leader in batting average (.307), slugging percentage (.510), hits (47), RBI (29) and doubles (five), is batting .354/.469/.684 in non-conference games. Evans has belted a team-leading six homers with four of them coming against non-conference opponents. In non-conference play, the senior out of Ponca City, Okla., is batting .306/.430/.548 with 14 RBI and with just two more hits Evans will reach an even 100 in his SFA career.
• Martin's 14 doubles lead SFA and are the second-most by any Southland Conference hitter so far this season. The Frisco, Texas, product ranks second among all NCAA Division I freshmen with his doubles total, too, with Wofford's Colin Davis (15 doubles) serving as the only freshman in the land who has topped Martin's total.
• One of the country's longest reached base streaks ended Saturday afternoon at Jaycees Field when Martin failed to get on base. The freshman went 0-for-4 at the plate, ending his 35-game reached base streak.
• Through the last five games, senior second baseman Eric DeJesus has been the 'Jacks' best hitter. The native of Diboll, Texas, is batting .350/.417/.550 with seven hits, three RBI and three runs scored.
• Nic Minor is tied with DeJesus as the 'Jacks' top offensive player through the last 10 games. Both Minor and DeJesus are batting .333 in that span and the former's 13 hits represent the most on the team during the last 10. Four of Minor's seven doubles in 2018 have come in the last 10 games, too.
• Minor and Evans are each on a three-game hit streak. That's the longest active hit streak by any player on the 'Jacks' roster.
• Junior Nick Daley continues to reign as the most prolific base thief in the Southland Conference. The Gilbert, Ariz., native is the only member of the league to have swiped over 20 bases this season and his 21 steals not only represent the most in the Southland but the 14th-most in the nation as well.
• On the mound, freshman Jordan Powell is set to make the third start of his collegiate career when the 'Jacks and Horned Frogs do battle Tuesday evening. The Montgomery, Texas, native is a perfect 3-0 with those three victories representing the most among the 'Jacks' pitching staff this season.
• Junior Jesus Gamez is one of the 'Jacks' most often-used relief pitchers. The Dover, Okla., product has appeared in 22 games and owns a staff-low ERA of 2.96 through 24.1 innings of action. A right-hander, Gamez is holding opponents to a batting average of just .177 through the season and has surrendered just 14 hits while striking out 29 - the second-highest total on the team.
• Ranking among the top ten in all of NCAA Division I baseball in terms of usage out of the bullpen, junior left-hander Cody Adams has appeared in 24 games for the 'Jacks this season. All but one of those appearances have been in relief and the Seymour, Texas, product ranks second in the Southland and seventh across the entire NCAA Division I baseball landscape in terms of total appearances.
SERIES HISTORY vs. TCU
Record vs. TCU | 5-11 (.313)
Streak | SFA won one
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 1-3 (.250)
Streak | TCU won three
In Fort Worth, Texas | 4-7 (.364)
Streak | SFA won one
Last game | at No. 4 TCU 2, SFA 6 (4/25/17)
SFA runs/per game | 78/4.9
TCU runs/per game | 145/9.1
Last TCU win | May 17, 2016 (at TCU 3, SFA 2)
Last SFA win | April 25, 2017 (at No. 4 TCU 2, SFA 6)
Cardenas vs. TCU | 3-3 (.500)
SCOUTING TCU | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Returning to Lupton Stadium after dropping three out of four games on the road last week, the Horned Frogs' Tuesday night showdown with the 'Jacks represents the start of a four-game home stand which concludes with a three-game Big 12 series against Texas Tech this weekend.
• TCU has dropped four of its last five games including a 4-2 home loss to Southland Conference adversary Abilene Christian on April 17. The Horned Frogs were swept by Baylor in Waco, Texas, last weekend, finishing with a run differential of minus nine in their three setbacks to the Bears.
• After starting the season 9-3, TCU has gone 10-14 through its last 24 games. The Horned Frogs are 13-9 against non-conference foes in 2018 and have gone 3-2 in their last five outing against non-league adversaries.
• Offensively, the quartet of A.J. Balta, Luken Baker, Michael Landestoy and Josh Watson represent the Horned Frogs' biggest threats. Watson leads the team in batting average while ranking second in both on-bast percentage and extra-base hits (15). In all, he has driven in 20 runs on the strength of a .326/.442/.526 slash line.
• Baker slashes at a clip of .319/.443/.575 and leads the squad in slugging percentage having popped a team-best nine of TCU's 20 homers. His 26 RBI are second only to Balta who leads the team with 29 to go along with jus 14 doubles.
• Landestoy ranks third on the team with 24 RBI and is batting .306/.396/.363 with five extra-base hits.
• The primary weapon of the Horned Frogs' pitching staff is the strikeout. TCU pitchers have racked up an impressive 348 of them thus far in 2018 and lead the Big 12 in strikeouts per nine innings with a figure of 9.8. That average is the 18th-highest in all of NCAA Division I baseball while TCU's staff strikeout to walk ratio stands at 2.63 - second in the Big 12 and 32nd nationally.
COMING UP NEXT
• The 'Jacks take a trip to Hammond, La., for the weekend where they will take on Southland Conference foe Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game series from Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. Game one between the 'Jacks and Lions (who reside in second place in the Southland Conference standings) is set for 6:00 p.m. Friday evening.
-SFA-
