Stephen F. Austin
Arkansas - Pine Bluff
SFA Caps Five-Game Home Stand with Midweek Matchup against Arkansas-Pine Bluff
4/2/2019 3:36:00 PM | Baseball
'Jacks and Golden Lions meet for sixth time as SFA shoots for second-straight win
Game Thirty
SFA (14-15) vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-22)
Wednesday, April 3 | 6:30 p.m. | Jaycees Field (1,000) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Tickets | Watch | Live Stats | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | RHP Tony Grabowske (1-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. TBA
LEADOFF HITS
• Hoping to return to the .500 mark, the SFA baseball team begins a stretch of five consecutive non-conference games by hosting SWAC adversary Arkansas-Pine Bluff Wednesday evening at Jaycees Field. Senior right-hander Tony Grabowske is set to get the start for the 'Jacks and his first pitch will cross home plate at 6:30 p.m.
• The 'Jacks have gone 6-11 (.353) in non-conference game so far this season and that record includes a 3-7 (.300) showing at home against non-league adversaries.
• SFA is coming off of a series-ending 4-2 victory over Southland foe Southeastern Louisiana Sunday afternoon at Jaycees Field. Jacob Stobart picked up his team-leading fourth win of the season by working five innings, senior outfielder Nick Daley drove in three of SFA's four runs and senior Tyler Starks notched his fourth save of the season in the victory.
• Currently the 'Jacks sit in a four-way tie for second place in the Southland Conference standings. Other teams tied with SFA for second place are Incarnate Word, Nicholls and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Each of those four teams trail league-leading Sam Houston State by one game with 18 Southland games left.
• The 'Jacks are three wins away from matching their 2018 win total and one win away from matching their total number of Southland victories from the previous season.
• Freshman outfielder Brandon Uhse leads SFA in batting average (.306) and hits (34). He's the only current player on the squad with 30 or more base knocks and his 11 RBI make him one of five players on the squad with double-digit RBI in 2019.
• Sophomore outfielder Jared Martin (.280/.371/.370) and junior infielder Jordan Monacy (.259/.385/.341) are tied for the team lead in walks with 15 apiece. Martin ranks second on the team with 28 hits and needs just 16 more to reach an even 100 for his collegiate career.
• Other players who are also nearing the 100-hit plateau this season include, junior utility player Josh Campbell (76 hits, 24 more until 100), senior infielder Jake Georgiades (74 hits, 26 more until 100), senior catcher Jarrod Huber (68 hits, 32 more until 100) and senior infielder Manny Vasquez (76 hits, 24 more until 100).
SERIES HISTORY | SFA vs. ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF
Record vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 3-2 (.600)
Streak | Arkansas-Pine Bluff won one
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 2-1 (.667)
Streak | Arkansas-Pine Bluff won one
In Pine Bluff, Ark. | 1-1 (.500)
Streak | Arkansas-Pine Bluff won one
Last game | at SFA 6, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 11 (April 17, 2018)
SFA runs/per game | 35/7.0
UAPB runs/per game | 31/6.2
Last SFA win | March 22, 2017 (at SFA 6, UAPB 5)
Last UAPB win | April 17, 2018 (at SFA 6, UAPB 11)
Cardenas vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 3-2 (.600)
SCOUTING ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• After taking one out of three games with SWAC adversary Texas Southern this past weekend the Golden Lions trip to Texas' oldest town marks the team's first visit to the Lone Star State since playing a three-game series at Prairie View A&M over the first three days of March.
• Arkansas-Pine Bluff has gone 3-18 on the road this season and that record includes an 0-4 showing against Southland Conference squads. In their most recent game with a Southland foe,
the Golden Lions were on the wrong end of an 8-1 decision at Central Arkansas on Tuesday, March 26. Arkansas-Pine Bluff also lost all three games of a non-conference series at Abilene Christian in late February.
• Nick Kreutzer is the Golden Lions' best option at the plate so far this season as he leads the squad in hits (32), runs scored (20), RBI (29), doubles (eight) and home runs (seven). For the year, Kreutzer is batting .352/.459/.670.
• Jarficur Parker (.303/.389/.368) is the second of three Arkansas-Pine Bluff regulars who is batting .300 or better. He ranks third on the team in stolen bases (seven) and has helped the squad for 48-of-63 on steal attempts so far in 2019.
• As a team, the Golden Lions' ERA stands at 9.90. Peyton Burks (2-6, 7.54 ERA) has collected two of the team's five wins on the hill and has tossed a team-high 37 innings. Opponents are batting .341 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff's staff and are averaging 9.6 runs per game.
SAVE IT
• Thirteen of the 'Jacks' 14 wins this season have come by three or fewer runs, meaning the team's bullpen has had to finish strong. A trio of performers have been up to that task so far in 2019.
• Jesus Gamez, Jeremy Rodriguez and Tyler Starks have each totaled four saves so far this season, giving the 'Jacks a number of options with which to close things down.
• Those four saves from each player put them in a tie for third place in the Southland in terms of total saves this season. On the national scene, they are tied for 61st among all NCAA Division I baseball players.
• Starks' four saves have upped his career save total to 17 - the third-most in program history. The senior out of Mesquite, Texas, needs two more saves to tie Jason West (19) for second all-time and with four more Starks would move into a tie for first with program saves leader Richard Folmer (21).
• The 'Jacks' 13 saves are tied for the third-most in a single season in program history and are the most by an SFA squad since 2013.
DALEY DOSE
• Coming off of his first three RBI performance of the season, senior outfielder Nick Daley has gone 4-for-8 with four RBI, a double and a run scored over his last two games.
• The final-year man also leads the 'Jacks in stolen bases with 10. For his career, Daley has swiped 31 bases which is the fifth-most in program history. He needs seven more steals to move into the top three all-time on SFA's stolen bases charts.
• His 10 base thefts in 2019 represent the fourth-most in the Southland by any player and as a team the 'Jacks rank seventh in the Southland with 27 steals to their credit.
ON DECK
• For the first time in program history, the 'Jacks will head to the state of California to get some games in. SFA's destination is Santa Barbara, Calif., where the 'Jacks will take on the Big West Conference's UC Santa Barbara in a three-game non-conference series. Game one between the 'Jacks and Gauchos is set for 5:00 p.m. from Caesar Uyeska Stadium.
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