Stephen F. Austin
13-10, 0
Central Arkansas
9-13, 0
SFA's Best Southland Start in Program History Continues with 3-1 Win at Central Arkansas
3/22/2019 9:56:00 PM | Baseball
Palmer fans six, 'Jacks score all three runs in the third
CONWAY, Ark. - The very thing that was the bane of the SFA baseball team's existence through the 2018 season is the element that has the 'Jacks off to its best Southland Conference start in program history.
Pitching.
Junior right-hander Alex Palmer struck out six through as many frames and SFA's three-man bullpen effort from Jeremy Rodriguez, Tyler Starks and Jesus Gamez through the final two frames finished off the 'Jacks' 3-1 Southland triumph over Central Arkansas Friday night at Bear Stadium.
For the first time in the 'Jacks' history, they have won their first seven Southland Conference games and Friday's series opener against the Bears featured another strong effort from SFA's arms who gave up just four hits and three walks while amassing nine strikeouts.
SCORING SUMMARY
T3 | For the second-straight Southland game, the 'Jacks generated all the offense they needed in just one frame. Needing only two hits to do all of their damage in the inning, SFA watched freshman Carson Clowers win an 11-pitch at-bat with a leadoff walk to start the frame. After Brandon Uhse reached on a fielder's choice, Jake Georgiades came up with his second hit of the day to keep the line moving. After Jared Martin reached on the Bears' lone error to load the bases, Uhse came home on a wild pitch from Central Arkansas starter Cody Davenport that put the 'Jacks up 1-0. Sean Moore did the rest, driving in a pair of runs with a single to the gap in right-center.
B5 | The only time the Bears succeeded in getting to Palmer came in the fifth when the junior issued his first of three walks - a six-pitch leadoff one to shortstop Joshmar Doran. Two outs later, designated hitter Marco Navarro broke up the shutout with an RBI single up the middle before Palmer was able to close the door by getting Jay Anderson to fly out to Martin in left.
AT THE DISH
• Generating 40-percent of the 'Jacks production at the plate, Georgiades finished with a pair of hits and a run scored. Martin, Moore and Uhse each provided one hits apiece for SFA who finished with five base knocks.
• Clowers drew two of the three walks issued by Central Arkansas' pitching staff while Jarrod Huber was issued the other.
• No Central Arkansas player totaled more than one hit, but Josh Ragan reached base a team-high three teams on a hit, a walk and a hit by pitch.
• UCA stranded eight men on the base paths while the 'Jacks left five in the win.
ON THE HILL
• Improving to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in Southland Conference action, Palmer surrendered three of the Bears' four hits as well as their only run of the night on 107 pitches through six.
• Palmer's six strikeouts bring his 2019 total up to an even 50 for the 2019 season thus far. His final punchout of the night got him out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth.
• Rodriguez tossed a pair of scoreless frames with his only blemish coming on an infield single to Tyler Smith to lead off the ninth.
• After Rodriguez exited, Starks came on and struck out Matthew Patton on six pitches.
• Gamez then notched his fourth save of the season by getting a strikeout and a flyout to end the game.
• Davenport (1-2) was tagged for three runs - only one of which was earned - on five hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings of work. The senior struck out five and took the loss. Brad Verel pitched 2 1/3 flawless innings of relief, totaling two punchouts of his own.
ON DECK
• The 'Jacks and Bears continue their three-game series at Bear Stadium Saturday afternoon. Originally scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start, the game will now begin at 2:00 p.m. in an attempt to dodge the rain forecasted to hit Conway Saturday evening.
CARDENAS' COMMENTS
On the tone of game one | "We knew going in that their pitching staff is really, really talented and that it was going to be a dog fight. Specifically, Friday night was going to feature two heavyweights trading blow after blow, inning after inning. What we told our hitters was to keep trying to grind out at-bats, move runners along and let our defense and pitching to the rest.
On Carson Clowers' at-bat in the third that started SFA's scoring | "We talk to our kids about buying into our philosophy and grinding during at bats every day. With Carson, you have a guy who has struggled really early and having him understand that his role is not to worry about weather or not he gets to hit but to keep grinding things out and winning pitch. He was able to win pitch after pitch until finally the pitcher relented and that sparked us big time.
On Alex Palmer working through some adversity | "There's a lot more energy being expended by those starters when you know runs are going to be at a premium. Palmer got a little shook up when he hit back-to-back guys in the fourth to load the bases but we just kept having confidence in him. We really needed him to go back out there and eat up that sixth inning and he did a great job of going out there, battling through it and giving us a chance to win.
On the lineup change moving Georgiades up to second | "Anytime you can have a hitter like Jake get hot and you move him up where he continues to be hot, he continues to put us in a position where we're putting pressure on their defense. I can't say enough about what he's doing to bring himself to this point. He was one of those guys who struggled early but stayed committed to what we do and understanding that we have a certain way we're going to do things and right now that's paying dividends for him.
-SFA-
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Palmer, Alex (3-1)
L: Davenport, C (1-2)
S: Gamez, Jesus (4)
Batting:
RBI: Moore, Sean 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Uhse, Brandon 1 ; Georgiades, Jake 1 ; Martin, Jared 1
Batting:
RBI: Navarro. M. 1
SH: Dodd, B. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Doran, J. 1
HBP: Ragan, J. 1 ; Smith, T. 1
