Stephen F. Austin
Northwestern State
'Jacks Set for Pivotal Southland Series with Northwestern State
4/25/2019 6:07:00 PM | Baseball
SFA and Northwestern State are within two games of top spot in Southland standings
Game Forty-Two | presented by Tipton Ford
SFA (18-23, 11-7 Southland) vs. Northwestern State (24-16, 12-9 Southland)
Friday, April 26 | 6:30 p.m. | Jaycees Field (1,000) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Tickets | Watch (Twitter) | Live Stats | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | RHP Alex Palmer (3-5, 3.36 ERA) vs. LHP Ridge Heisler (3-3, 3.07 ERA)
Game Forty-Three | presented by Tipton Ford
SFA vs. Northwestern State
Saturday, April 27 | 12:30 p.m. | Jaycees Field (1,000) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Tickets | Watch (Twitter) | Live Stats | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | LHP Jacob Stobart (6-1, 5.61 ERA) vs. RHP Nathan Jones (5-2, 2.50 ERA)
Game Forty-Four | presented by Tipton Ford
SFA vs. Northwestern State
Sunday, April 28 | 1:00 p.m. | Jaycees Field (1,000) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Tickets | Watch (Twitter) | Live Stats | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | RHP Trayson Kubo (1-1, 6.19 ERA) vs. RHP Cullen McDonald (4-0, 2.66 ERA)
LEADOFF HITS
• Just a game-and-a-half back of first place in the Southland Conference standings, the SFA baseball team closes out the month of April by hosting longtime Louisiana and Southland rival Northwestern State in a pivotal league series at Jaycees Field. The three-game set will be presented by Tipton Ford in Nacogdoches.
• Currently SFA sits in two-way tie for fourth place in the Southland standings with Central Arkansas. Right behind the 'Jacks and Bears are the Demons who are two games back of league-leading Sam Houston State for the top spot in the league standings.
• During his team-leading five-game hitting streak, senior infielder Jake Georgiades is batting .437 (7-for-16) with both of his doubles on the year and a pair of RBI. Through that stretch, the College Station, Texas, product has driven his batting average up by 30 points. He needs 17 more hits to get to an even 100 for his SFA career.
• Freshman Brandon Uhse continues to lead SFA in batting average (.307), hits (50) and runs scored (28). The Grand Prairie, Texas, product had his seven-game hitting streak snapped at 19th-ranked Baylor Tuesday evening by going 0-for-3.
SERIES PROMOTIONS
• Following Friday night's series opener, fans are invited to stay for a post-game fireworks show.
SERIES HISTORY | SFA vs. NORTHWESTERN STATE
Record vs. Northwestern State | 31-38 (.449)
Streak | SFA won one
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 17-14 (.548)
Streak | SFA won three
In Natchitoches, La. | 13-24 (.351)
Streak | SFA won one
Last game | at Northwestern State 5, SFA 6 (April 8, 2018)
SFA runs/per game | 284/4.1
NSU runs/per game | 331/4.8
Last Northwestern State win | April 8, 2018 (at Northwestern State 16, SFA 2)
Last SFA win | April 8, 2018 (at Northwestern State 5, SFA 6 | 15 innings)
Cardenas vs. Northwestern State | 15-14 (.517)
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.
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.
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.
PALMER POWER
• Junior right-hander Alex Palmer will try to lock down his first pitching victory in the month of April Friday night when he gets the start against the Demons.
• The Arlington, Texas, product has been SFA's staff ace this season as he leads the team and ranks second in the Southland in complete games (one), games started (10) and strikeouts (70).
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Fresh off a 10-7 victory at eighth-ranked Arkansas Wednesday afternoon, the Demons head to Nacogdoches in search of their second-straight series victory over the 'Jacks. Northwestern State took two out of three regular season matchups between the two squads in Natchitoches, La., last season.
• The Demons have won five of their last seven games and included in that run are a pair of wins against McNeese and another against Southeastern Louisiana.
• As evidenced by his performance Wednesday afternoon at Arkansas, Northwestern State's Tyler Smith has enough extra-base power to serve a major power threat in the Demons' lineup. Smith belted three homers in the Demons' showdown with the Razorbacks Wednesday afternoon, upping his slash line to .254/.375/.517 on the year.
• Northwestern State is led offensively by shortstop Caleb Ricca who sits atop the team charts in batting average (.302), runs (38), hits (45), RBI (26), walks (28) and stolen bases.
• Starting pitching is another strength of Northwestern State who is seeking its second-straight berth in the NCAA Tournament. None of the Demons' projected starting pitchers possess an ERA of higher than 3.10. As a matter of fact, Northwestern State leads the Southland and ranks 10th nationally in shutouts having thrown five already this season.
• Saturday starter Nathan Jones and relief man Tyler Pigott are tied for the team lead in wins with five apiece. Jones has tossed a team-best 54 innings and has also racked up a staff-high 54 strikeouts.
• A fine fielding squad, Northwestern State leads the Southland and ranks 15th nationally in fielding percentage with a mark of .980.
ON DECK
• Once their series with the Demons is in the books, the 'Jacks prepare for their lengthiest stretch of road games in 2019. That eight-game stretch of true road contests begins Tuesday afternoon in Pine Bluff, Ark., when SFA takes on Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a non-conference tilt. First pitch has been set for 3:00 p.m.
-SFA-
