'Jacks Drop 13-9 Sunday Slugfest to Nicholls at Jaycees Field

Sunday, May 6

Nacogdoches, Texas

1:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

15-31, 0

Nicholls

22-27, 0

Nicholls

Stephen F. Austin

Photo by: Hardy Meredith | SFA Photography

'Jacks Drop 13-9 Sunday Slugfest to Nicholls at Jaycees Field

5/6/2018 4:37:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Evans racks up four RBI, hammers 18th homer of career

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - For the second time in less than 24 hours, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team staged a middle-inning comeback to pull even with visiting Nicholls but just as they did in game two of Saturday's doubleheader the Colonels responded with a big inning to rip the 'Jacks' hearts out.

Sunday afternoon, the Colonels broke an 8-8 deadlock by striking for five runs in the top of the seventh as the 'Jacks dropped their Southland Conference series finale to Nicholls by a 13-9 tally at Jaycees Field. In the process, SFA not only lost the series but saw its Southland Conference Tournament hopes take yet another hit as the 'Jacks now sit four games back of eighth place in the league standings with six conference games remaining. The top eight teams make the cut for the Southland Conference Tournament.

Offense was not in short supply during the series finale between the 'Jacks and Colonels as each team racked up 15 hits in a tilt which featured 22 combined runs. In all, 10 players enjoyed multi-hit games including SFA's Jake Georgiades who finished 3-for-3 at the dish with three RBI. 'Jack senior Josh Evans tallied a game-high four RBI on a 2-for-4 performance at the plate which was highlighted by a three-run homer in the 'Jacks' four-run fifth.

That round tripper was the 18th in Evans' career, pushing the Ponca City, Okla., product into 10th place all-time on SFA's career home run charts.

Senior right-hander Trevor Kiminski did an admirable job of limiting the damage done by Nicholls' bats through his four-inning start. The Brooklyn Park, Minn., product gave up three runs on six hits, three walks and also hit a pair of batters in his 82-pitch outing but also stranded six Colonels on the base paths in that span.

Nicholls used an RBI single from Kyle Knauth in the first and another off the bat of Dillon Belle in the top of the third to open up a 2-0 lead before the 'Jacks got on the board in the home half of the third.

Georgiades' two-out RBI single cut the Colonels' lead in half and the score remained 2-1 in favor of the visitors through the fourth before Nicholls put its first crooked number of the afternoon on the board in the top of the fifth.

The Colonels chased Kiminski from the game after the senior issued a leadoff walk to Chet Niehaus and Sean Beasley came on to replace Kiminski. Beasley surrendered back-to-back singles which pushed Nicholls' lead to 3-1 and hit a batter to load the bases. Cody Adams took over for Beasley from there, but did not fare too much better as the left-handed junior gave up a sac fly, an RBI single and a bases-clearing double off the bat of Joey Morales that handed the visitors an 8-1 lead.

Staring a seven-run deficit in the face, the 'Jacks got right to work in the home half of the fifth. Georgiades started SFA's four-run frame with a sacrifice fly before Evans' three-run shot pulled the 'Jacks within three. In the sixth, Josh Campbell laced an RBI double down the left field line, Jarrod Huber came home on a wild pitch and Georgiades tied things at 8-8 with hit one-out RBI single up the middle.

Tied up for the first time since 0-0, the 'Jacks watched Josh Ponder get the first two outs of the seventh before Nicholls surged ahead. Niehaus put the Colonels on top once again and started the visitors' five-run seventh with an RBI single before Lee Clark kept the line moving with a two-run single of his own. Two more runs came across to score before Jarrod Huber caught Xane Washington in a rundown between first and second to end the inning.

By that point, however, Nicholls was in control and although Evans added his fourth RBI on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth SFA could get no closer.

Austin Bollinger (2-4) worked 1.2 innings of one-run ball to secure the pitching win while Ponder (0-3) was charged for five runs in 1.2 innings en route to the loss. Clark and Morales each finished with two hits and three RBI for the Colonels.

Tuesday night, the 'Jacks hit the road for their penultimate non-conference tilt of the 2018 campaign. SFA travels to Houston, Texas, for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch against Houston at Schroeder Park.

-SFA-