Palmer's Arm, Monacy's Bat Help 'Jacks Take Down Houston Baptist 6-0

Friday, March 15

Nacogdoches, Texas

6:30 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

9-10, 0

Houston Baptist

5-12, 0

Houston Baptist

Stephen F. Austin

Photo by: SFA Athletics

Palmer's Arm, Monacy's Bat Help 'Jacks Take Down Houston Baptist 6-0

3/15/2019 10:09:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Monacy drives in three, Palmer strikes out 10 as SFA stays perfect in Southland play

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Another Friday night, another dominant outing for SFA baseball's Alex Palmer.

The junior right-hander out of Arlington, Texas, put on another dazzling pitching performance by striking out 10 through seven frames and the 'Jacks bolstered their ace by scoring the game's only runs through the first three innings to collect a 6-0 victory over Houston Baptist Friday night at Jaycees Field.

Feasting on Houston Baptist starter Zach Carter, the 'Jacks three, four and five-hole hitters combined for six of the team's nine hits. Houston Baptist's offense, meanwhile, was held to only four hits and the Huskies put just four runners in scoring position during the game.

SCORING SUMMARY
B1 | After Palmer started the game with a one, two, three first, the 'Jacks did not waste any time in giving their ace some early run support. Two-out hitting was the key to SFA's success at the plate as Jared Martin came up with a single before Sean Moore's double put both of them in scoring position. Monacy started his productive night at the dish by pushing a two-run single through the Huskies' infield to make matters 2-0.

B2 | Jake Georgiades extended his team-leading hitting streak to five games with a single to lead off the second. After Huber reached, a balk pushed those two to second and third. Marcus Mendez upped the hosts' lead to 3-0 with an RBI groundout before the inning came to a close.

B3 | Breaking things open, the 'Jacks put a three-spot on the board thanks to a four-hit frame. Moore's second hit of the night was a one-out single and after that the middle of SFA's lineup continued to victimize Houston Baptist starter Zach Carter. Monacy and Manny Vasquez conjured up back-to-back RBI doubles and Jarrod Huber hiked the 'Jacks' lead to 6-0 with a two-out RBI single.

AT THE DISH
• Monacy put up fifty-percent of SFA's runs, finishing 2-for-4 to go along with three RBI and a walk.
• Martin and Moore each went 2-for-4 as well and combined to score three of the 'Jacks' six runs.
• Georgiades, Huber and Vasquez each notched a hit and of those three Georgiades was the only one who did not drive in a run. Both Georgiades and Vasquez recorded a hit for the fifth-straight game.
• Houston Baptist's Jordan Blackmon reached base three times, going 1-for-2 at the plate while drawing two of the Huskies' four walks on the night.

ON THE MOUND
• Palmer improved to 2-1 and hiked his 2019 strikeout total to 44 through 32 1/3 innings of work. Those 44 total punchouts are the most by any Southland Conference hurler thus far in 2019.
• After Palmer was done dicing up the Huskies, junior Jeremy Rodriguez took over for the game's final two frames. He needed only 18 pitches to close things out and let up the fourth and final Houston Baptist hit of the night.
• Carter (1-3) was hit with the loss as the Huskies' starter gave up all six runs and each of SFA's nine hits on the night. Taylor Franzman and Jacob Coats threw the final three innings for the Huskies and let only one SFA batter reach first in that span.
• Palmer and Rodriguez combined to toss the first shutout for SFA in a Southland Conference game since May 18, 2017. In that game, the 'Jacks downed Houston Baptist 4-0 at Jaycees Field behind a six-inning start from current SFA senior Tony Grabowske.

OF NOTE
• SFA improved to 4-0 in Southland Conference play, continuing the team's best start in league play since 2011.
• The 'Jacks, Sam Houston State and McNeese are the only three Southland squads who have not dropped a league game so far in 2019.

CARDENAS COMMENTS
On Alex Palmer's start and his performance: "For any Friday night starter you're looking for them to set the tone for how the weekend is going to go. Houston Baptist was able to get Alex into some deep counts and work the count a little bit on him so he has to learn how to attack those hitters so in the middle innings when we had a lead like tonight he can get into the eighth or ninth. The way our bullpen has done, though, we don't have any problem putting them out there to shut things down."
On the middle of SFA's lineup getting going: "Those midweek games were tough on us because we ran into some good pitching. After that we told our guys not to panic and not to change what we do or their approach. Once again, coach [Mike] Haynes has done a good job at getting them prepared for the weekend."
On the 4-0 start to Southland Conference play: "The big thing this year is that this group is a very tight-knit group. They don't care who gets it done, just as long as somebody does. There's no me - it's all about we. Guys are doing a good job of knowing their roles, executing their roles and being good team members. As far as team unity goes, the vibe is really, really good."

ON DECK
• SFA goes for its second-straight Southland Conference series win in as many tries Saturday afternoon when the 'Jacks and Huskies hook up at 2:00 p.m. from Jaycees Field. Freshman lefty Jaxon Covington (2-0) looks to maintain his undefeated record when he takes the bump for the 'Jacks.

-SFA-