SFA Overcomes Early Deficit to Take Down Northwestern State 5-3

Sunday, April 28

Nacogdoches, Texas

1:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

20-24, 0

Northwestern State

25-18, 0

Northwestern State

Stephen F. Austin

Photo by: SFA Athletics

SFA Overcomes Early Deficit to Take Down Northwestern State 5-3

4/28/2019 6:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

'Jacks score four in the fourth to move within one game of Southland's top spot

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Anyone who considers themselves a die-hard SFA fan knows of the Piney Woods rivalry between the 'Jacks and Sam Houston State. Another rivalry that exists for SFA is its one with longtime Louisiana foe Northwestern State.

The latter was put on full display Sunday afternoon at Jaycees Field and though both teams barked in the emotionally driven Southland series finale, it was the 'Jacks who had a stronger bite at the end of the day.

Senior right-hander Trayson Kubo tossed six strong innings, senior left-hander Tyler Starks finished finished what his classmate started by throwing the final three frames and the 'Jacks erased a two-run deficit by scoring four in the fourth to help lift them to a 5-3 victory over Northwestern State Sunday afternoon at Jaycees Field.

The win helped SFA sew up its second-straight Southland Conference series victory and created quite the logjam at the top of the league standings headed into the final three weeks of the regular season. The 'Jacks are one of three teams (Central Arkansas and Incarnate Word are the other two) who trail Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana by just one game for the top spot in the league standings.

SCORING SUMMARY
T2 | In order to earn a come-from-behind win, the 'Jacks first had to be behind and that was the position they found themselves after the top of the second. With two outs, Jeffrey Elkins nestled a long fly ball just inside the right field line and hustled all the way to third for an RBI triple to put the Demons up 1-0. From there, Tyler Smith laced an RBI single just past a diving Antonio Lima at second to score Elkins and extend the Demons lead to 2-0.

B4 | After having little success against Northwestern State starter Cullen McDonald through the first three frames, the 'Jacks got all the offense they needed in the fourth. Sean Moore started the frame with a single before Jake Georgiades got drilled by the first pitch he was from McDonald to put runners at first and second. From there, designated hitter Josh Campbell laid down a bunt, beat an errant throw by McDonald and moved to second on that Demon miscue. Thanks to the bad toss, Moore came around to score and cut Northwestern State's lead to 2-1. Lima knotted the game by lofting a fly ball to right-center that scored Georgaides. The lower third of SFA's order continued to shine as Carson Clowers put the home team ahead for good by delivering an RBI single to center. Up 3-2, SFA kept the line moving with a single off the bat of Nick Daley. From there, the Demons went to their bullpen and brought Tyler Pigott on to pitch. Brandon Uhse greeted Northwestern State's relief arm with an RBI single to left-center that capped SFA's four-run, five-hit frame and put the hosts ahead 4-2.

B5 | For the second time in as many at-bats, Moore led off with a single. Georgiades moved the junior to second on a sacrifice bunt before Skylar Black drove a 2-0 offering from Pigott to the gap in right center. The junior's RBI single scored Moore from second and pushed SFA's lead to 5-2.

T9 | Coming on in relief of Jeremy Rodriguez in the top of the seventh, Starks tossed scoreless seventh and eighth innings before finishing off the Demons in the ninth. After striking out the first two batters he faced in the frame, the senior southpaw ran into a little bit of trouble when Sam Taylor tried to start a Northwestern State rally with a single to center field. Caleb Ricca followed by scalding an RBI double down the left field line that cut the 'Jacks' lead to 5-3. Fortunately, Starks put the kibosh on the Demons' comeback bid by striking out Elkins on five pitches to end the game.

AT THE DISH
• A trio of 'Jacks - Daley, Moore and Uhse - went 2-for-4 at the plate to pace the home team's nine-hit attack on offense. Moore scored a pair of runs while Black, Lima and Clowers - SFA's seven, eight and nine hitters - each drove in a run.
• Though Northwestern State out-hit SFA, it ultimately did not matter. Elkins, Smith, Taylor and Lenni Kunert each had a pair of hits while Elkins and Ricca drove in one run each.
• Black and Uhse each recorded a stolen base for SFA.

ON THE HILL
• Making his second-straight start in a Southland series finale, Kubo (2-1) turned in another strong outing on the mound. The senior right-hander moved over the .500 mark by giving up two runs on six hits and five walks through six frames.
• Kubo struck out five and got a great deal of help from Black behind the dish to keep the Demons' damage to a minimum. Black hosed a would-be base thief in the first and picked off another Demon at first in the top of the sixth.
• Though he gave up a hit, a walk and hit a batter in the top of the first, Kubo did not let any of those baserunners come around to score. After Black gunned Taylor down at second for the first out of the frame, Kubo picked Ricca off of first. Moore had a hand in the final out, making a great toss to Lima at second to hose Smith who was trying to turn a single into a double.
• Starks recorded his fifth save of the year by working the final three innings. The senior struck out five and let up a run on four hits to move into a tie with Rodriguez for the team lead in saves.
• McDonald (4-1) wound up in the loss column for the first time this season after lasting just 3 2/3 innings. In that span, the Demons' starter surrendered four runs on six hits and three hit batters.

CARDENAS COMMENTS
On the intensity of Sunday's series finale | "There was a lot of chirping from both dugouts and rightfully so. You have two teams who are trying to stay near the top of the conference standings and then you have the natural rivalry between SFA and Northwestern State and it was a really hard-fought game. Basically what our staff did throughout the game was tell our guys to calm down. In games like that, emotions can get away from you and lead to negative repercussions for your entire team. As best we could, we tried to keep our guys focused on the task at hand.
On the four-run fourth that was sparked by a bunt single | "The way we're designed, we're just a team that has to grind things out by creating offense in different ways other than blasting a three-run home run. With our pitching staff as good as it has pitched, that's just where we're at. We will have to continue to get our guys to buy into an offensive philosophy that's geared toward stringing hits together to win games.
On Trayson Kubo's second-straight win and the in-game adjustments he made | "Trayson will have to continue to his secondary pitch for strikes. If he can do that on a consistent basis, then his fastball is good enough for any level. He will have to make sure to not get too fastball heavy in his approach. When you do that, teams like to sit on that and really get good swings on pitches. In the inning where he gave up those two runs, he was really fastball heavy. They got some bat heads out on his pitches and we talked it over from there. We changed the plan so he would start throwing his secondary pitches and making them hit that. That's really how he made his way through the middle innings.
On the all-around play of Skylar Black | "He did a great job for us today. That's the hardest role in the world, the one that he has. To be that guy who plays once or twice a week and comes off the bench is difficult. To play like he did and to handle Kubo the way he did and to call the game that he did makes him a big-time asset for us because he allows us to give Huber a rest and keep him fresh.

ON DECK
• Before taking part in another Southland Conference series, the 'Jacks will start an eight-game road swing by heading to Arkansas for a non-conference showdown. At 3:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, SFA tangles with Arkansas-Pine Bluff in its penultimate non-conference regular season game of 2019.

-SFA-