Stephen F. Austin
Arkansas - Pine Bluff
SFA Starts Eight-Game Road Trip by Heading Northeast For Non-Conference Tilt at Arkansas-Pine Bluff
4/29/2019 7:03:00 PM | Baseball
'Jacks seek first victory over Golden Lions in 2019
Game Forty-Five
SFA (20-24) at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (6-35)
Tuesday, April 30 | 3:00 p.m. | Torii Hunter Baseball Complex (1,000) | Pine Bluff, Ark.
Live Stats | Weather Forecast
Pitching Matchup | RHP Joseph Sgambelluri (1-4, 7.03 ERA) vs. TBA
LEADOFF HITS
• For its penultimate non-conference games of the regular season, the SFA baseball team takes a trip northeast to Pine Bluff, Ark., where the 'Jacks will take aim at their first win over the season over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. First pitch at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex is set for 3:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
• Against non-conference foes, the 'Jacks have put up a 7-16 record through the 2019 campaign and are looking to string together back-to-back non-conference victories for the second time this season.
• When facing off against adversaries from the state of Arkansas, the 'Jacks are 2-5 in 2019. One of those victories came in SFA's season opener against Arkansas State back on Friday, Feb. 15, with the other coming at Central Arkansas back on Friday, March 22.
• SFA is coming off of its season-straight Southland Conference series win after taking down Northwestern State by a 5-3 score Sunday at Jaycees Field. The 'Jacks took two out of three from the Demons to push them into a three-way tie for third place in the Southland Conference standings.
• Currently it's SFA, Central Arkansas and Incarnate Word in a tie for third place in the Southland standings. That trio of teams sits just a single game back of Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana who are tied for the top spot with three weeks left in the regular season.
SERIES HISTORY | SFA vs. ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF
Record vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 3-3 (.500)
Streak | Arkansas-Pine Bluff won two
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 2-2 (.500)
Streak | Arkansas-Pine Bluff won two
In Pine Bluff, Ark. | 1-1 (.500)
Streak | Arkansas-Pine Bluff won one
Last game | at SFA 4, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 6 (April 3, 2019)
SFA runs/per game | 39/6.5
UAPB runs/per game | 37/6.2
Last SFA win | March 22, 2017 (at SFA 6, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 5)
Last UAPB win | April 3, 2019 (at SFA 4, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 6)
Cardenas vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 3-3 (.500)
SAVE IT
• A strong bullpen has been a staple of SFA so far this season as the 'Jacks have recorded 16 saves throughout their 20 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 21st nationally with 24 total appearances out of the 'Jacks' bullpen.
• Another five saves have gone to senior left-hander Tyler Starks who has made 21 appearances out of the 'Jacks' bullpen. Sunday the Mesquite, Texas, product notched his fifth and most recent save by tossing the final three frames of the 'Jacks' win over Northwestern State. In that game, Starks struck out five and added to his program-leading appearances mark. He's up to 98 appearances in an SFA uniform and with two more he would be the first pitcher in program history to appear in 100 or more games.
• On SFA's all-time saves charts, Starks sits in third place with 18 for his career. He will tie the program record by recording three more saves.
• Senior righty Jesus Gamez has locked down four more saves in 2019 so far. He possesses the team's second-lowest ERA at a mark of 2.76 on the year.
• Austin Roth and Cully Mangus have each notched one save for the 'Jacks as well.
• SFA needs just one more save to match the program record for saves in a season (17) set by the 2011 club that won a program-best 37 games.
APPROACHING 100
• A group of SFA players are approaching the 100-hit mark for their respective careers.
• Junior Josh Campbell has 88 hits in his career and needs 12 more to get to triple digits.
• Senior Jarrod Huber has 77 hits in his career and needs 23 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 82 hits in his career and needs 18 more to get to triple digits.
• Senior Manny Vasquez has 88 hits in his career and needs 12 more to get to triple digits.
SOUTHLAND SHUTOUTS
• Just one team in the Southland Conference (Northwestern State) has racked up more shutout wins than the 'Jacks this season. SFA ranks 49th 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 locked down his first pitching victory in over one month by firing six innings of shutout baseball against Northwestern State last Friday evening at Jaycees Field.
• The Arlington, Texas, product has been SFA's staff ace this season as he leads the team and ranks third in the Southland in complete games (one). Palmer tops the team and Southland charts games started (11) and ranks second in the league in strikeouts (76).
• Palmer's 76 punchouts are the third-most in a single season in program history and the most by a Lumberjack arm since Chase Greening racked up 78 in the 2013 season. With seven more strikeouts, Palmer will become the program's leader for strikeouts in a single season.
DALEY DOSE
• In his final season as a collegiate baseball player, senior outfielder Nick Daley has shown some speed that gives him an edge in the outfield and on the base paths.
• The Gilbert, Ariz., native leads the team with 13 stolen bases this season. That works out to a per-game average of 0.34 which is the fourth-best among all Southland players.
• For his career, Daley has swiped 34 bags in an SFA uniform - the fifth-most in program history.
• Entering the Northwestern State series, Daley was mired in a 5-for-35 (.143) slump at the plate but he busted out of it against the Demons. Over the three-game series, Daley batted 5-for-12 (.412) to raise hit season batting average by 20 points.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Since defeating SFA 6-4 back on April 3, the Golden Lions have lost 13-straight games and have been outscored 166-63 during that span.
• Arkansas-Pine Bluff is 1-10 at home this season with its lone win coming on Saturday, March 30 in the middle game of the three-game SWAC set against league adversary Texas Southern.
• The Golden Lions are 1-8 against Southland Conference teams this season and have been outscored 91-43 in those games.
• Leading the way for Arkansas-Pine Bluff in many of the team's offensive categories is Nick Kruetzer. The junior infielder is tops on the team in batting average (.364), on-base percentage (.477), slugging percentage (.643), hits (51), runs (28), RBI (42), doubles (12) and home runs (nine).
• On the mound, the Goldens Lions' staff ERA stands at 10.74 and just one of the team's arms (Austin Toth, 4.15 ERA) possesses and ERA south of 5.00. Arkansas-Pine Bluff's staff is letting opponents hit .352 and has walked 258 compared to 207 strikeouts.
ON DECK
• Returning to Southland Conference action, the 'Jacks stay on the road and will be trying to maintain their spot near the top of the league standings when they head to the Pelican State. Friday evening at 6:30 p.m., SFA starts a three-game league set at McNeese from Joe Miller Ballpark.
-SFA-
