Bats of Black, Mendez, Propel 'Jacks to 8-7 Comeback Win over Pilots

Saturday, March 2

Nacogdoches, Texas

11:00 a.m.

Stephen F. Austin

5-6

Portland

7-4

Portland

Stephen F. Austin

Photo by: SFA Athletics

Bats of Black, Mendez, Propel 'Jacks to 8-7 Comeback Win over Pilots

3/2/2019 3:29:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Black blasts solo shot, finishes with three RBI, Mendez conjured up two-run double

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Tied or trailing after six innings of play may not be an advantageous position for most squads, but it's a situation that the SFA baseball team has thrived in so far this season.

That trend continued at Jaycees Field Saturday morning.

Marcus Mendez's first hit in a Lumberjack uniform came in the form of a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the eighth that put SFA in top, Skylar Black added two more runs with an RBI single and Jeremy Rodriguez slammed the door on Portland's comeback bid in the ninth by notching his second save in SFA's 8-7 victory.

In four of their five wins so far this season, SFA has trailed entering the seventh inning or later and that never-say-die attitude has helped the 'Jacks close things out.

SCORING SUMMARY
T1 | For the third-straight game, the Pilots got on the board first. Portland's only hit of the frame came when Jace McKinney drove a one-out single up the middle. From there, SFA starter Trayson Kubo hit Daniel Lopez with a 3-1 offering before loading the bases with a two-out walk. A passed ball allowed McKinney to come home from third, giving the Pilots a 1-0 lead.

T2 | Two more hits helped the Pilots up their lead to 2-0. Back-to-back singles from Matt Kelly and Tracye Tammaro put runners on the corners for Portland with nobody out and a sacrifice fly by Chad Stevens pushed Portland's second run of the day across before Kubo got out of the frame.

B3 | After being held hitless through the first two frames, the 'Jacks injected a substantial amount of power into their bats in the third to take the lead. Skylar Black got things started by blasting a one-out solo shot beyond the fence in left-center. The junior's first long ball of the year represented SFA's first hit of the game and the 'Jacks didn't let up after that. Kyle Cullen drew a walk before Nick Daley drilled a single to left. Brandon Uhse reached on a fielder's choice and both Cullen and Daley beat the throw on Uhse's grounder to keep the bases loaded. Jared Martin took over from there, driving a 3-2 offering from Baker down the left field line. The sophomore's double cleared the bases and put the hosts up 4-2.

T4 | Portland started chipping away at the 'Jacks lead in the fourth and was aided by a Lumberjack error. Kelly reached on an errant throw to start the frame before moving to second on a walk and third on a sacrifice bunt. He went on to cross home plate on a wild pitch from Kubo that trimmed SFA's lead to 4-3, but Kubo got out of the inning by covering home plate after a wild pitch and tagged Tammaro out at the dish to end the frame.

T7 | With Jaxon Covington tossing balls and strikes, the Pilots added another unearned run to knot matters at four. Needing one more out to get out of the frame with the lead, Lopez reached on SFA's second and last error of the game which allowed Stevens, who legged out a one-out infield single earlier in the frame, to come home and equalize things.

T8 | The Pilots regained the lead for the first time since the third inning by getting consecutive one-out doubles from Blake Porter and Kelly. Kelly's two-bagger drove in Porter and pushed Portland ahead 5-4.

B8 | Portland's final lead of the game did not last long thanks to a well-timed dose of two-out hitting by the home team. Brandon Uhse and Martin started the frame with a single and a walk respectively before getting moved into scoring position with Antonio Lima's sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Manny Vasquez drew a walk to load the bases and Marcus Mendez took it from there. The junior produced his first hit in an SFA uniform, drilling a sharp double down the left field line that pushed two runs across and gave SFA a 6-5 lead. Black capped a great day at the plate by delivering a two-run single after Mendez's double, providing some much-needed insurance for SFA.

T9 | After Tony Grabowske got the first out of the frame, the senior issued back-to-back walks before notching his lone strikeout of the game to put SFA one out away from victory. Things got dicey when the Pilots loaded the bases with a single. Tyler Starks took over for Grabowske, only to have the Pilots greet him with a two-run single that cut SFA's lead to 8-7. Jeremy Rodriguez stepped to the mound after that and ended the game with a flyout.

AT THE DISH
• All of the 'Jacks' RBI were racked up by three players. Black and Martin drove in three runs apiece while Mendez finished with a pair of RBI. Of those three, Black and Mendez were the only two SFA players who posted multi-hit games. They each had two of SFA's 10 hits.
• Porter (3-for-5) and Kelly (2-for-5) generated five of the Pilots' nine hits and three of their four RBI.

ON THE MOUND
• Covington (1-0) secured his first collegiate pitching win, firing four frames of four-hit, two-run ball. Just one of those runs was or the earned variety and the first-year man out of Center, Texas, totaled three of the 'Jacks' seven strikeouts.
• Rodriguez locked down his second save of the season by registering the final out of the game.
• Cole Wilkinson (0-1) was tagged with the loss for the Pilots after giving up four runs on four hits and a pair of walks in only one frame of work.
• Jacob Biesterfeld fired three frames of scoreless relief for the Pilots, but did not factor into the final decision.

COMING UP NEXT
• The 'Jacks and Pilots put the finishing touches on their four-game series at 3:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon from Jaycees Field. Right-hander Joseph Sgambelluri (0-2) is scheduled to get the start for the 'Jacks.

-SFA-