Stephen F. Austin
UT Arlington
Third and Final 2018 Meeting between SFA and UT Arlington Set for Wednesday Night
4/3/2018 5:32:00 PM | Baseball
'Jacks close five-game home stand in search of first 2018 win over Mavericks
Game Twenty-Eight
Stephen F. Austin (9-18) vs. UT Arlington (13-12)
Wednesday, April 4 | 7:00 p.m. | Jaycees Field (1,000) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (Facebook Live) | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | RHP Jordan Powell (1-0, 3.55 ERA) vs. RHP Reid Petty (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
LEADOFF HITS
• In search of its third consecutive non-conference triumph, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team closes out a five-game home stand Wednesday night when the 'Jacks host Sun Belt Conference adversary UT Arlington at 7:00 p.m. The meeting between the two squads at Jaycees Field represents the third of 2018 and the first in Nacogdoches since February 19, 2017.
• Getting the starting nod for the second time in 2018 is freshman right-hander Jordan Powell. The Montgomery, Texas, product ranks third on the team with an ERA of 3.55 and has fired a total of 12.2 frames in nine appearances this season. Powell's first start came in the 'Jacks' 14-3 non-conference win over Grambling State on March 21 and saw the freshman toss four innings of two-run ball.
• The 'Jacks will be trying to put an end to a three-game losing skid when they take the field Wednesday night. SFA suffered a three-game Southland Conference sweep at the hands of Incarnate Word last week at Jaycees Field to move one game back of eighth place in the Southland Conference standings. With 21 more league games remaining in the 2018 season, the 'Jacks must be within the top eight teams in the league to secure a spot in the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament.
• Earlier this year, the 'Jacks and Mavericks battled in a two-game set at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, with UT Arlington posting a pair of one-run wins. Game one saw UT Arlington jump out to a 5-1 lead before the 'Jacks scored four of the game's last five runs to narrow the gap to 6-5. Manny Vasquez drew a two-out bases-loaded in the top of the seventh to make it a one-run game and the 'Jacks loaded the bases again in the ninth with one out but were unable to push the game-tying run across.
• In game two, the Mavericks built an 8-3 lead after seven before the 'Jacks roared back to force extra innings. Nick Daley started a four-run ninth for SFA by lacing an RBI single to right center before Josh Evans' sacrifice fly made it a two-run game. Freshman Jared Martin sent the game to extras after that when his two-run homer knotted matters at nine-all. In the bottom of the 10th, however, Omar Salinas won it for UT Arlington with an RBI single which accounted for the final 10-9 score.
• Through that two-game set with the Mavericks, Martin batted .556/.600/1.222 with five hits, four runs scored and a pair of RBI. Three of the freshman's Southland Conference-best 12 doubles came against UT Arlington and currently no freshman in all of NCAA Division I baseball has exceeded Martin's two-bagger total. His 12 are the 21st most in the nation by any player and the first-year man also leads the Southland in RBI per game (0.96).
• Martin leads the 'Jacks in slugging percentage (.581), hits (35), RBI (26), extra-base hits (17) and total bases (61) through his 27 games started.
• Of the 17 games he has started at third base, junior Jake Georgiades has recorded at least one hit in all but three of them. As a result, the College Station, Texas, product currently leads the Southland Conference in batting average and on-base percentage. The junior's batting average of .373 ranks 86th nationally while his league-best on-base percentage of .488 is the 45th-highest in the land.
• Junior Nick Daley is in the midst of a team-best nine-game hitting streak as of this writing. SFA's center fielder started that stretch with a 1-for-5 performance in a non-conference setback at Prairie View A&M on March 20 and has also scored nine runs in that same span. Daley is one of the top threats to steal a base in the nation as he has swiped a Southland Conference-high 14 bags thus far in 2018. That stolen base total is the 26th-highest in the nation and Daley also leads the league in stolen bases per game (0.52).
• Senior Josh Evans has rediscovered the swing that propelled him to a Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year award in 2017. Over the last 10 games, Evans has hit safely in eight of them and has racked up multiple hits in six of those 10 tilts. Four of his team and Southland Conference-leading six home runs have come in the last 10 games, too, and he ranks 86th nationally in terms of total home runs this season. In all, Evans has popped 16 homers in his SFA career and needs two more to tie Kevin Crabtree for the 10th most in program history.
• Juniors Jarrod Huber and Manny Vasquez joins Jake Georgiades and Jared Martin as the only four SFA regulars who are hitting at .300 or above. Huber and Vasquez are both hitting .310 and each have hammered a homer for the 'Jacks. SFA has had nine players bash at least one home run so far in 2018.
• There isn't a team in the Southland Conference that has as much offensive firepower as SFA. The 'Jacks lead the 13-team league in scoring by plating 6.7 runs per game. That runs per game average also stands as the 51st-highest in the nation and is fueled by 23 home runs, 180 runs and 144 walks - all of which are the second-highest marks in the Southland.
• On the hill, a quartet of four SFA relief arms are tied for the team lead with 14 appearances. That group includes juniors Cody Adams, Jesus Gamez and Austin Hearn as well as senior Cole Ridgely. Of that foursome, Gamez and Hearn possess the two lowest ERAs on the squad at 2.65 and 3.00 respectively.
SFA vs. UT ARLINGTON
Record vs. UT Arlington | 24-37 (.393)
Streak | UT Arlington won three
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 15-21 (.417)
Streak | UT Arlington won one
In Arlington, Texas | 8-14 (.363)
Streak | UT Arlington won three
Last game | at UT Arlington 10, SFA 9 (10 inn., on Feb. 26, 2018)
SFA runs/per game | 331/5.4
UTA runs/per game | 385/6.3
Last SFA win | February 18, 2017 (at SFA 2, UTA 1, 10 inn.)
Last UTA win | February 26, 2018 (at UTA 10, SFA 9, 10 inn.)
Cardenas vs. UT Arlington | 13-12 (.520)
Thomas vs. SFA | 13-15 (.464)
SCOUTING UT ARLINGTON | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Wednesday night's tilt with the 'Jacks at Jaycees Field will be the second of six consecutive road games for the Mavericks who have won 10 of their last 13 games. That run began with an 18-inning 5-1 win at then sixth-ranked Texas A&M on Tuesday, March 13, and most recently featured a Sun Belt Conference series with Louisiana-Monroe.
• The Mavericks turn to Reid Petty as their starting pitcher for Wednesday night's non-conference showdown. It'll signify Petty's first appearance of the season on the pitching rubber since March of 2017 due to an injury incurred by the senior right-hander. Petty has posted a 2-1 record on the hill throughout his seven collegiate starts.
• Defensively, the Mavericks' infield has done a superb job of turning double plays through their 25 games. UT Arlington leads the Sun Belt and ranks sixth nationally with an average of 1.20 double players turned per game. The team's 30 total double plays turned are the seventh-most in all of NCAA Division I baseball.
• Of the team's 66 extra-base hits, a Sun Belt Conference-best 10 have been triples. The Mavericks rank 20th in the nation as a team with those 10 triples and half of them have come off the bat of Noah Vaughan. His five triples are the third-most in the nation while his 14 extra-base hits represent a team-high.
• Omar Salinas (.326/.416/.400) and Christian Hollie (.309/.396/.485) are the two Mavericks who are battling above .300 on the season. Those two have scored 26 of the team's 134 runs and have also accounted for 23 of UTA's 123 RBI. In all, seven players have driven in 10 or more runs for the Mavericks and tops among that group is Vaughan who has pushed 18 across home plate.
• While it's unlikely that UTA will sent any member of its weekend rotation to the hill, the squad may walk David Moffat (3-4, 2.82 ERA, nine appearances), Ryan Buss (1-1, 3.57 ERA, nine appearances), or Logan Austin (2-0, 4.26 ERA, nine appearances) out of the bullpen during Wednesday evening's tilt. Each member of that trio shares the team lead for pitching appearances.
COMING UP NEXT
• SFA heads across the Texas/Louisiana state line bound for Natchitoches, La., where they will reengage in Southland Conference action with a weekend series at Northwestern State. That three-game set starts Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. from Brown-Stroud Field.
-SFA-
