Covington Moves to 3-0, 'Jacks Score Three in the Sixth to Get By HBU 4-2

Saturday, March 16

Nacogdoches, Texas

2:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

10-10, 0

Houston Baptist

5-13, 0

Houston Baptist

Stephen F. Austin

Photo by: SFA Athletics

Covington Moves to 3-0, 'Jacks Score Three in the Sixth to Get By HBU 4-2

3/16/2019 5:27:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Monacy draws bases-loaded walk to break 1-1 tie in the sixth

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Three starts. Three wins.

That has been the story for freshman left-handed pitcher Jaxon Covington through the early stages of his collegiate career. As a result, the SFA baseball team is off and running to one of its best Southland Conference starts in program history.

Covington allowed only two baserunners through his first 5 2/3 innings of work, Jordan Monacy's bases-loaded walk in the sixth broke a 1-1 tie and SFA added two more runs on Houston Baptist's third error of the day to collect a 4-2 triumph over the Huskies Saturday afternoon at Jaycees Field.

The win translated to the 'Jacks' second Southland Conference series win of the season and kept SFA atop the league standings two-third of the way through the second weekend of league action.

SCORING SUMMARY
B5 | It took over half the game, but the 'Jacks finally got on the board. Manny Vasquez got the jump on Houston Baptist starter Brady Batten to start the frame, looping a 1-0 offering down the left field line for a double. After swiping third base, Vasquez trotted home when Jake Georgiades drilled an RBI single to left-center that put the home team on top 1-0.

T6 | Houston Baptist's response, however, was swift. With two outs in the sixth, Chase Talbot beat SFA first baseman Jordan Monacy to the bag in order to reach on an infield single. After swiping second base, Talbot raced home to tie the game when Brandon Bena shot an RBI single to left field.

B6 | No hits, no problem was the mantra for the 'Jacks in the sixth as they took the lead for good without the benefit of a base knock. Nick Daley was hit with a pitch and stole second before Brandon Uhse drew a five-pitch walk. With one out, those two moved into scoring position on a failed pickoff attempt. Sean Moore laid off a number of enticing offering from Batten to draw an eight-pitch walk and load the bases. After that, Monacy kept the line moving by reaching first on a five-pitch walk that brought Daley home and made matters 2-1. Batten retreated to the dugout after that walk and the Huskies called on Daniel Endsley out of the bullpen. Vasquez greeted Endsley with a ground ball that went between the legs of Cal Clark at shortstop and that error - the second of the inning for Houston Baptist - allowed SFA's final two runs to score.

T7 | The visitors were able to trim SFA's lead to two with a two-hit seventh. Clark started the frame with a leadoff single before Erik Voller connected on a double that stayed just fair down the left field line. That two-bagger helped Clark come home and cut the 'Jacks' edge to 4-2. Covington, however, recovered to get the first two out of the frame before senior right-hander Jesus Gamez came on and induced an inning-ending flyout.

AT THE DISH
• Georgiades continued his hot-hitting ways, finishing the day with two of SFA's seven hits and an RBI.
• Vasquez upped his team-leading hitting streak to six games by going 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
• After going a combined 0-for-8 at the plate Friday night, Daley and Uhse put forth a combined 2-for-5 effort at the dish. Each of them drew a walk and scored a run in SFA's fifth-straight Southland Conference victory.
• Talbot ended the game with one-third of the Huskies' hits, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.

ON THE MOUND
• Covington worked his was through 6 2/3 innings - his longest outing of the year - and gave up both of the Huskies' runs on five hits and his first two walks of 2019. The freshman struck out three before handing things over to Gamez.
• Once on the hill, Gamez was nearly untouchable. The senior picked up his third save of the season by striking out a game-high four in 2 1/3 inning of one-hit ball.
• Batten (0-3) took the loss despite only being charged for two earned runs on the afternoon. SFA got six of its seven hits off of the Huskies' starter who walked three, hit one and struck out two in 5 1/3 frames.
• Endsley tossed the final 2 2/3 innings for Houston Baptist, allowing only three baserunners on two walks and a hit in that span.

OF NOTE
• SFA's five-game Southland Conference winning streak is the team's longest since winning nine consecutive league games in the 2017 season.
• The 'Jacks have now won their first five Southland Conference games of the season for the first time since the 2011 season.

CARDENAS COMMENTS
On another strong start by Jaxon Covington: "At the Division I level you have to be able to command the zone with multiple pitches. You have to be able to keep hitters off balance. You have to be able to throw your second and third pitches for strikes. We preach that to our guys over and over again and he's the epitome of what you should be able to do at this level. If all you have is one pitch at this level, eventually guys are just going to square you up and start getting hit after hit off of you. Jaxon does a good job of controlling his pitches and does a great job of controlling his emotions by not getting too high or too low. He gives our guys opportunities to play defense behind him, too."
On Jake Georgiades' hitting as of late: "For Jake it was really just a matter of simplifying his swing, getting back to doing what he needs to be doing with coach [Michael] Haynes to get himself ready for the games and buying into the philosophy that he had last year. Early on he was trying to hit too many balls out of the park and trying to turn into an offense first, defense second kind of guy but now he has gotten back to basics and returned to the status of that player we knew he was."
On Sunday's start: "It's all hands on deck for the series finale on Sunday. We're going to start Jacob Stobart and then rely on that full compliment of arms we have behind him if and when it comes time for Jacob to come back to the dugout. Hopefully our offense gives us a spark early so we can try to hold on through the course of the game."

ON DECK
• For the second Sunday in a row, SFA goes gunning for a Southland Conference sweep. The 'Jacks will sent left-hander Jacob Stobart to the hill against the Huskies once series finale between SFA and Houston Baptist begins at 1:00 p.m.

-SFA-