Stephen F. Austin
#19 Baylor
SFA Travels West in Search of Program's First Win over 19th-Ranked Baylor
4/22/2019 5:52:00 PM | Baseball
'Jacks start five-game week with 23rd all-time matchup against Bears
Game Forty-One
SFA (18-22) at #19 Baylor (26-12)
Tuesday, April 23 | 6:35 p.m. | Baylor Ballpark (5,000) | Waco, Texas
Tickets | Live Stats | Watch (Facebook Live) | Listen | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | RHP Joseph Sgambelluri (1-3, 7.08 ERA) vs. RHP Blake Helton (1-2, 4.76 ERA)
LEADOFF HITS
• Down to just four non-conference tilts on its regular season schedule, the SFA baseball team begins a busy week by heading west to Waco, Texas, in search of the program's first victory over 19th-ranked Baylor.
• First pitch at Baylor Ballpark for the 23rd meeting between the 'Jacks and Bears has been set for 6:35 p.m.
• Tuesday evening's tilt at Baylor represents SFA's second matchup against a Big 12 foe this season. The 'Jacks are going in search of their first win over a Big 12 program since they defeated fourth-ranked TCU on Tuesday, April 25, 2017.
• The 'Jacks are 7-15 in non-conference action this season, which includes a 2-6 showing in non-conference road contests.
• In its most recent series, SFA took two out of three at Southland Conference foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. SFA outscored the Islanders 11-5 in the three-game set and are now just one-and-a-half games back of first place in the Southland Conference standings.
• SFA is currently in a tie for fourth place in the league standings. Just two games separate the first through sixth place teams in the Southland standings with four weeks to go in the regular season.
SERIES HISTORY | SFA vs. BAYLOR
Record vs. Baylor | 0-22 (.000)
Streak | Baylor won 22
In Nacogdoches | 0-1 (.000)
Streak | Baylor won one
In Waco | 0-20 (.000)
Streak | Baylor won 20
At neutral sites | 0-1 (.000)
Streak | Baylor won one
Last game | at Baylor 2, SFA 1 (April 18, 2017)
SFA Runs/Per Game | 48/2.2
Baylor Runs/Per Game | 173/7.9
Last SFA Win | n/a
Last Baylor Win | April 18, 2017 (2-1)
Cardenas vs. Baylor | 0-2 (.000)
SIX-WIN STOBART
• Junior left-hander Jacob Stobart recently upped his team-leading win total to six games after tossing seven innings of one-run baseball in the 'Jacks' series opener at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last Thursday evening.
• Stobart's six wins on the hill represent the team lead and are the second-most by any Southland Conference pitcher so far this season. Those six wins also help Stobart rank 36th nationally in pitching wins.
SOUTHLAND SHUTOUTS
• Just one team in the Southland Conference (Northwestern State) has racked up more shutout wins than the 'Jacks this season. SFA ranks 40th in the nation in shutout victories with a trio of them.
• Those three shutout wins have all come in Southland Conference play and have helped SFA tie the program mark for the highest number of shutout wins in conference play in a single season.
SAVE IT
• A strong bullpen has been a staple of SFA so far this season as the 'Jacks have recorded 14 saves throughout their 18 triumphs so far in 2019.
• Five of those saves have been credited to junior right-hander Jeremy Rodriguez who leads the Southland Conference and ranks 30th nationally with 21 total appearances out of the 'Jacks' bullpen.
• Four more saves have each gone to Jesus Gamez and Tyler Starks.
• Last Saturday in SFA's series finale at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Starks pitched one-third of an inning and made his 96th appearance. That tied Richard Folmer's program record for career appearances and with one more Starks will take over as the program's leader in that statistical category.
THE KID IS UHSE-FUL???????
• Freshman outfielder Brandon Uhse has emerged as one of the 'Jacks' best options at the plate through his first season in an SFA uniform.
• The Grand Prairie, Texas, product leads SFA in hits (50) and runs scored (28) and is riding a team-best seven-game hitting streak heading into Tuesday tilt at Baylor.
• Uhse also leads the 'Jacks with 14 multi-hit games through his 39 games played. Among Southland Conference freshmen, Uhse ranks second in terms of total hits through 2019 so far.
APPROACHING 100
• A group of SFA players are approaching the 100-hit mark for their respective careers.
• Junior Josh Campbell has 85 hits in his career and needs 15 more to get to triple digits.
• Senior Jarrod Huber has 76 hits in his career and needs 24 more to get to triple digits.
• Sophomore Jared Martin has 84 hits in his career and needs 16 more to get to triple digits.
• Senior Jake Georgiades has 81 hits in his career and needs 19 more to get to triple digits.
• Senior Manny Vasquez has 88 hits in his career and needs 12 more to get to triple digits.
SCOUTING BAYLOR | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• After dropping two of its three Big 12 showdowns at 22nd-ranked Texas Tech this past weekend, the Bears return home to host SFA in a game that represents Baylor's fifth against a Southland Conference institution this season. The Bears are 3-1 against Southland foes headed into Tuesday evening's matchup with SFA.
• Twenty-six of the Bears' 38 games so far this season have been played in Waco and in those tilts Baylor owns an impressive 21-5 (.808) record. The Bears have won their last three home contests and have not dropped a midweek contest at Baylor Ballpark yet this season (5-0).
• One of the nation's top offensive teams, the Bears head into Tuesday evening's tilt sporting a team slash line of .311/.395/.479. Seven of Baylor's regulars own batting averages of .301 or higher and leading the team is Davis Wendzel who possesses a .387/.495/.660 slash line. The junior infielder tops the Bears' charts in hits (58), walks (24), RBI (37), doubles (17) and home runs (eight).
• Other 50+ hit getters for the Bears include Nick Loftin (54) and Richard Cunningham (52). In addition to Wendzel, Cole Haring has also driven in over 30 runs so far this season. He ranks second on the team in RBI with 33.
• Baylor ranks among the top 10 nationally in a pair of statistical categories - batting average (eighth, .311) and shutouts (ninth, five). In the Big 12's ranks, Baylor leads the league in no fewer than 10 categories including doubles (85), fielding percentage (.980), hits (422) and slugging percentage (.479).
• On the mound, the Bears' staff ERA of 3.68 ranks as the third-best in the Big 12 and the 33rd best in the nation. Tuesday night starter Blake Helton will be making his third start of the season and in 22 2/3 innings he has given up 26 hits and 18 runs.
ON DECK
• Once the 'Jacks and Bears conclude things Tuesday night in Waco, SFA faces a quick turnaround as it starts a four-game home stand with a Wednesday evening matchup against SWAC foe Prairie View A&M. First pitch at Jaycees Field has been set for 6:00 p.m.
-SFA-
