Palmer Piles Up 13 Strikeouts in Friday Night Showdown with Portland

Friday, March 1

Nacogdoches, Texas

6:30 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

4-6

Portland

7-3

Portland

Stephen F. Austin

Photo by: SFA Athletics

Palmer Piles Up 13 Strikeouts in Friday Night Showdown with Portland

3/1/2019 10:17:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Junior's 13 K's are third-most in a single game by a Lumberjack arm

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Junior right-hander Alex Palmer put on one of the best pitching performances in SFA baseball history by striking out 13 batters in 7 1/3 innings of work, but Portland's pitching staff limited the 'Jacks to just three hits while the Pilots' bats amassed 10 hits en route to a 7-3 win Friday night at Jaycees Field.

SCORING SUMMARY
T1 | For the second night in a row, the Pilots got off to a quick start. Chad Stevens started the game with a single before Jace McKinney blooped a Texas leaguer into shallow left for a double. With runners on second and third, Hunter Montgomery delivered a sacrifice fly to right that handed the Pilots a 1-0 lead.

B1 | The 'Jacks answered with a sacrifice fly of their own to even things up. Displaying control issues from the get-go, Portland starter Nate Packard issued a trio of walks in the opening frame including one to leadoff man Brandon Uhse. Manny Vasquez brought the freshman home by sending a deep fly ball to center that knotted the score at one each.

B3 | Following Packard's fifth and final walk of the game, Portland's starter was pulled after Jared Martin reached on five pitches to lead off the third. Into the Pilots' bullpen, Jordan Monacy greeted relief arm Morgan White by launching a two-run homer to right that put the 'Jacks up 3-1.

T4 | Two more Portland hits allowed the visitors to pull even with the 'Jacks. With two outs and a runner at third, Palmer watched Daniel Lopez turn on a 1-0 pitch and blast a two-run shot just beyond the fence in left-center. Portland's second long ball of the series evened the score at three.

T5 | More power at the plate helped the Pilots take their second lead of the game. Matt Kelly won an eight-pitch battle with Palmer and lifted a towering solo homer beyond the fence in left field to lead off the frame.

T8 | After three scoreless frames, the Pilots got to Palmer once again. McKinney, Portland's first batter of the frame, pounced on a 3-1 offering from the junior right-hander and sent a solo homer over Jaycees Field's left field fence. Following Palmer's 13th strikeout of the night, he issued a one-out walk to Blake Porter that signaled the end of his outing. Cully Mangus took over on the hill from there and the freshman right-hander gave up two doubles and a sacrifice fly that help Portland up its lead to 7-3.

AT THE DISH
• Monacy's two-run shot in the third was one of just three SFA hits on the night. Jared Martin hit a single up the middle in the ninth and Nick Daley - who was making his first start of the season - legged out a two-out infield single in the eighth.
• Monacy and Uhse drew two walks each and as a team SFA drew a season-high 10 walks from the Pilots' pitching staff.
• Five different Pilots had an RBI, none more than Lopez who finished with three as part of his two-hit night. He was one of three Portland players who posted two hits and was joined by Kelly and McKinney. Each of them drove in one run.
• Eight of the Pilots' 10 hits went for extra bases including five doubles and three home runs.
• Daley also racked up three of the 'Jacks' six stolen bases on the night. Uhse, Martin and Jarrod Huber each swindled one bag through the game.

ON THE MOUND
• Pressed into action after Packard's ineffective start, White responded with a strong outing to pick up his first win of the season. He tossed 4 2/3 frames of one-hit ball and racked up eight of the Pilots' 10 strikeouts.
• Despite getting hit with the loss, Palmer (0-1) put on a masterful performance on the hill for the 'Jacks. Through 7 1/3 innings, the Arlington, Texas, product racked up 13 punchouts which were the most by an SFA arm since Dillon Mangham fanned 15 against Abilene Christian on April 25, 2015. In SFA's history, Palmer's 13 punchouts are the third-most in a single game by any Lumberjack arm. He did give up seven of the Pilots' 10 hits as well as six of their seven runs.

COMING UP NEXT
• With the series deadlocked at 1-1, the 'Jacks and Pilots are set to play the final two games of their four-game set Saturday. The doubleheader is set to begin at 11:00 a.m. from Jaycees Field with senior right-hander Trayson Kubo getting the ball to start things off.

-SFA-