Early Burst of Offense Helps SFA Get By Grambling State 6-2

Tuesday, April 9

Nacogdoches, Texas

6:30 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

15-19

Grambling State

14-18

Grambling State

Stephen F. Austin

Photo by: SFA Athletics

Early Burst of Offense Helps SFA Get By Grambling State 6-2

4/9/2019 10:43:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Huber's three-run double caps 'Jacks' five-run first

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - By doing the vast majority of its offensive work early on, the SFA baseball team was able to put the brakes on its four-game losing skid just in time for one of its biggest series of the 2019 campaign.

Senior catcher Jarrod Huber capped off a five-run first by coming up with a bases-clearing double and junior right-hander Joseph Sgambelluri fired 4 1/3 innings of one-hit baseball as the 'Jacks got by Grambling State, 6-2, Tuesday night at Jaycees Field.

SFA improves to 2-6 in midweek games this season and 8-10 at home as it prepares to host longtime Southland and in-state rival Sam Houston State this weekend. No SFA player put forth a multi-hit effort, but the 'Jacks out-hit the Tigers 7-4 to collect their first win in 10 days.

SCORING SUMMARY
B1 | After watching starting pitcher Joseph Sgambelluri set the tone by sitting down the Tigers in order, the 'Jacks wasted little time in giving the junior some run support. Brandon Uhse ripped a one-out single up the middle before moving to second on a groundout by Manny Vasquez. From there, SFA did all of its damage in the frame by stringing together some two-out hits. Sean Moore put the hosts ahead for good with an RBI single before Jake Georgiades legged out an infield single and Jordan Monacy drew a walk to load the bases. Josh Campbell got hit by a 1-2 offering to drive in another run before Huber drove the first pitch he saw deep in the gap to right-center. That extra-base hit cleared the bases and put the hosts ahead 5-0.

B4 | More two-out hitting - this time by Vasquez - helped SFA pad its lead. After Uhse was hit by a pitch with two down, Vasquez roped an 0-1 pitch to the gap in left-center for an RBI double that pushed the hosts' lead to 6-0.

T5 | After retiring the first seven Grambling State batters he faced and not letting up a hit until he had worked 3 2/3 innings, Sgambelluri ran into some trouble in the fifth. After recording the first out of the frame, the junior issued three consecutive walks to load the bases. Senior lefty Seth Campbell was summoned from the bullpen from there and issued an 11-pitch walk to Phil Adams, Jr., that scored the Tigers' first run of the game. From there, however, Campbell proceeded to strike out a pair to get out of the inning.

T7 | Grambling State's second and final run of the game came when senior right-hander Austin Hearn issued a nine-pitch walk to Garrett Smith to start the frame. After allowing a hit, Hearn got the next two batters to line out to left and right field respectively before Richard Ortiz drove an RBI single back up the middle to trim SFA's lead to 6-2.

ON THE HILL
• By letting up just a single run through his 4 1/3 innings of work, Sgambelluri (1-3) collected his first victory in an SFA uniform. The junior racked up five of the 'Jacks' nine strikeouts while issuing five walks and letting up just a single hit.
• Seniors Seth Campbell and Austin Hearn tossed one and 1 2/3 innings respectively and combined for four more strikeouts on the night before turning things over to junior Jeremy Rodriguez.
• Rodriguez struck out three through his two frames of action and allowed just one hit.
• For the Tigers, Kerry Boykins, Jr., (3-2) got hit with his second loss of the season after surrendering five runs on four hits and a walk through just 2/3 of an inning of work.
• Grant Landry worked his way through two frames and let up the 'Jacks' only other run of the night in the fourth. He gave up only two hits but hit three batters.
• SFA's pitching staff stranded 10 Grambling State runners on base.

AT THE DISH
• Huber's three RBI represented both a game and season-high for the senior. Over his last five outings, the Edgewood, Texas, product is batting .467 (7-for-15) with two doubles and three
RBI.
• Vasquez's RBI double in the fourth upped his season total to a team-high 11. Three of his last six hits have gone for extra bases and over his last five games the senior has driven in five runs.
• Uhse scored two of the 'Jacks' six runs to move past Vasquez for the team lead in runs scored (22). After his single in the bottom of the first, he needs just one more hit to reach an even 40 for the year.
• A team-high two of the Tigers' four hits came off the bat of Ortiz who drive in one of the team's two runs.

ON DECK
• Age-old Piney Woods rivals are set to collide at Jaycees Field this weekend as the 'Jacks reengage in Southland Conference action by playing host to league-leading Sam Houston State for a three-game set. Friday night's series opener is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. with junior right-hander Alex Palmer getting the ball for SFA.

CARDENAS COMMENTS
On the early burst of offense and about sustaining offense | "We did a good job of coming out and really committing to our plan on offense. We sprayed a bunch of line drives and ground balls to the outfield but once we scored those first five runs I think we lost a little bit of focus and didn't apply as much pressure as we could have. If we continue to apply pressure, you may look up in the sixth or seventh inning and have double-digit runs up on the board instead of six. I'm happy with the way we started, but we missed some opportunities on being consistent."
On Jarrod Huber's offensive abilities as of late | "Jarrod has been doing a good job all year of helping our pitching staff establish that lower half of the zone. Offensively he has done a good job of staying committed to being the best hitter he can be. That means low and hard line drives, staying above the baseball, not getting too long and making the most of each at bat."
On Joseph Sgambelluri | "He did a good job of doing what coach Martino tells him to do and that's control the lower half of the zone. That was probably his longest outing of the year and because of that you see a little fatigue creep in there in the fifth. For him, it's just to refocus for next time and work on extending his quality starts.

-SFA-