Stephen F. Austin
Southeastern Louisiana University
SFA Wraps Up April with Southland Conference Series at Southeastern Louisiana
4/26/2018 6:26:00 PM | Baseball
'Jacks and Lions meet in Hammond, La., for first time since 2012
Game Forty-One
Stephen F. Austin (14-26, 6-12 Southland) at Southeastern Louisiana (27-17, 14-7 Southland)
Friday, April 27 | 6:00 p.m. | Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field (2,000) | Hammond, La.
Live Stats | Watch (Southland Digital Network) | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | LHP Dru Dziedzic (1-2, 4.87 ERA) vs. RHP Josh Green (5-3, 3.32 ERA)
Game Forty-Two
Stephen F. Austin (14-26, 6-12 Southland) at Southeastern Louisiana (27-17, 14-7 Southland)
Saturday, April 28 | 2:00 p.m. | Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field (2,000) | Hammond, La.
Live Stats | Watch ($) | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | RHP Sean Beasley (2-3, 6.88 ERA) vs. RHP Carlisle Koestler (7-1, 2.31 ERA)
Game Forty-Three
Stephen F. Austin (14-26, 6-12 Southland) at Southeastern Louisiana (27-17, 14-7 Southland)
Sunday, April 29 | 1:00 p.m. | Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field (2,000) | Hammond, La.
Live Stats | Watch ($) | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | RHP Trevor Kiminski (2-4, 5.40 ERA) vs. RHP Corey Gaconi (3-1, 4.62 ERA)
LEADOFF HITS
• For its final games in the month of April, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team takes off on a journey to Hammond, La., where the 'Jacks battle Southland Conference foe Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game series from Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. First pitch in Friday evening's series opener is set for 6:00 p.m. on the Southland Digital Network.
• With 12 Southland Conference games to go, the 'Jacks sit in 11th place in the league standings. SFA trails both New Orleans and Nicholls for eighth place by just a single game. The top eight teams in the league advance to the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament in Sugar Land, Texas.
• When they take the field in Hammond, La., Friday evening, it will mark the first time in almost six season that the 'Jacks have battled the Lions on the road. The two squads did not meet in 2014-16 and played their first series since 2013 one season ago in Nacogdoches. SFA and Southeastern Louisiana last met in Hammond on May 4-6, 2012, in a series where the Lions took two out of three.
• Both Josh Evans and Nic Minor extended their team-best hitting streaks to four games Tuesday evening in Fort Worth, Texas, in the 'Jacks' setback to TCU. Minor started the game with a leadoff double - his eighth of the season - while Evans launched a two-run homer for the 'Jacks in the sixth.
• Evans' two-run homer was his seventh of the season which leads the team and represents the fifth-highest total in the Southland Conference. The senior out of Ponca City, Okla., is one hit shy of the 100th in his SFA career and with one more homer he will break into the 'Jacks' top ten in terms of career long balls. Evans currently leads the 'Jacks and ranks 12th in the Southland with a .525 slugging percentage.
• Senior Eric DeJesus leads the 'Jacks in both batting average (.307) and on-base percentage (.433). An infielder out of Diboll, Texas, DeJesus ranks 12th in the Southland in terms of OBP and has totaled 80 walks throughout his four-year career - the most by an SFA player in program history.
• Outside of DeJesus, freshman Jared Martin is the only other SFA regular who is batting .300 or better. The Frisco, Texas, product is hitting .303/.405/.503 and leads the team in hits (47), runs (35), RBI (29), extra-base hits (20) and doubles (14). Martin's 14 doubles are the third most in the Southland and are also the third-most by any NCAA Division I freshman thus far in 2018.
• No man in the Southland Conference has swiped more bases than SFA junior Nick Daley. The Gilbert, Ariz., native's 21 stolen bags leads the team and represents the 16th-highest total in all of NCAA Division I baseball.
• On the mound, SFA's best arm out of the bullpen has been junior Jesus Gamez. Through 22 appearances - the fourth-most in the Southland Conference by any pitcher - Gamez has posted an ERA of 2.96 while limiting opponents to a batting average of just .177. The junior has racked up one save through 24.1 innings of work and has struck out 29 against 18 walks.
SERIES HISTORY vs. SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
Record vs. Southeastern Louisiana | 16-27 (.372)
Streak | Southeastern Louisiana won three
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 8-14 (.364)
Streak | Southeastern Louisiana won three
In Hammond, La. | 7-12 (.368)
Streak | Southeastern Louisiana won one
Last game | at SFA 7, SLU 11 (4/30/17)
SFA runs/per game | 218/5.1
Southeastern Louisiana runs/per game | 264/6.1
Last Southeastern Louisiana win | April 30, 2017 (at SFA 7, Southeastern Louisiana 11)
Last SFA win | April 21, 2013 (at SFA 8, Southeastern Louisiana 3)
Cardenas vs. Southeastern Louisiana | 6-14 (.300)
SCOUTING SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Sitting in second place in the Southland Conference standings, the Lions' series against SFA marks the team's last appearance in Hammond, La., for nearly one month. After playing six of its last seven at home, Southeastern Louisiana hits the road for six consecutive Southland Conference road games.
• As has been the trend in Hammond since in head coach Matt Riser's tenure, the Lions do a number of things very well, most notably in the pitching and baserunning departments. As a staff, the Lions' 3.65 ERA is the second-best in the Southland Conference and that contingent of arms is the owner of the nation's sixth-highest strikeout to walk ratio (3.08 : 1).
• Staff ace Carlisle Koestler leads all Southland Conference pitchers in wins and possesses the second-lowest ERA in the league at 2.31. Koestler has struck out 51 while walking only nine batters through 58.1 frames of work.
• Another area where the Lions have made their mark is in terms of stolen bases. Southeastern Louisiana leads the Southland in stolen bases (105) and stolen bases per game (2.39) while ranking third and fourth nationally in each of those respective categories. Four players have swiped at least 12 bases for Southeastern Louisiana with Drew Avans' 18 steals leading the way.
• Avans (.316/.448/.559) is one of just two Lions who have started all 44 games and is also one of only two member of the the team who boast a batting average over .300. Avans leads the squad in hits (55), extra-base hits (18), home runs (eight), on-base percentage (.448) and slugging percentage (.559) Cody Grosse (.318/.407/.405) leads the Lions in batting average, doubles (nine) and runs scored (40).
COMING UP NEXT
• Down to only 11 regular season games left on their 2018 schedule once their weekend in Hammond, La., wraps up, the 'Jacks return to Nacogdoches where they will play six of their next seven games. That stretch starts Friday, May 4, when SFA tangles with Nicholls in the first game of a three-game Southland Conference set. First pitch at Jaycees Field that evening is set for 6:30 p.m.
-SFA-
