SFA Sets Out on Journey to Lake Charles to Challenge McNeese in Crucial Southland Set

Friday, May 3

Lake Charles, La.

6:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

McNeese

Tickets

Photo by: SFA Athletics

SFA Sets Out on Journey to Lake Charles to Challenge McNeese in Crucial Southland Set

5/2/2019 4:00:00 PM | Baseball

'Jacks sit in third place in Southland standings with nine league games left

By: Charlie Hurley | Director of Athletic Media Relations

LEADOFF HITS
• Within striking distance of the top spot in the Southland Conference standings headed into the final three weeks of the regular season, the SFA baseball team continues its eight-game road trip by embarking on a journey to Lake Charles, La., for a three-game Southland set at McNeese.
• Joe Miller Ballpark will serve as the backdrop for the pivotal Southland series which begins at 6:00 p.m. Friday evening before continuing at 6:00 p.m. Saturday evening. The series finale has been set for 1:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
• SFA is one of three teams - Central Arkansas and Incarnate Word are the other two - that sit just a single game back of Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana who are tied for the first-place spot in the Southland standings.
• The 'Jacks head to Lake Charles hoping to put an end to a six-game skid against the Cowboys. SFA's six-game losing streak against McNeese is its longest against a current Southland foe.
• SFA is also going in search of its first win in Lake Charles since April 14, 2013, when the 'Jacks took down the Cowboys by a 5-3 tally to take the season series between the two teams by a 2-1 margin.

SFA TRENDS
• Freshman shortstop Carson Clowers has seen his batting average rise 28 points over his last five games. Clowers is hitting .364/.364/.364 over that span and has driven in three of SFA's 13 runs.
• Senior right-hander Trayson Kubo has been the 'Jacks' starting pitcher in each of their last two Southland series finales and all he has done in those games is go 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA.
• In the Southland games that Kubo has started, senior Jake Georgiades and junior Skylar Black are each batting .400.

LAST TIME OUT
• After being forced to endure an hour-long delay while waiting on officials to begin the game, the 'Jacks got a dominant pitching performance from junior right-hander Joseph Sgambelluri who racked up 11 strikeouts through seven innings of one-hit, shutout baseball in SFA's 4-2 win at Arkansas-Pine Bluff Tuesday evening.
• Playing a number of their reserves, the 'Jacks saw a number of them step up and deliver in critical situations. Junior infielder Marcus Mendez went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI while redshirt freshman outfielder Carson Chapman drove in a run as part of his 2-for-4 showing at the dish.
• Mendez and Chapman delivered back-to-back RBI singles in the eighth that pushed SFA's lead to 3-0 and Jaime Lovell added SFA's final run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth.
• Sgambelluri's 11 strikeouts are a season-high for the Benbrook, Texas, product and represent the second-most by an SFA arm in a game this season.

HE'S PRETTY UHSE-FUL???????
• Freshman outfielder Brandon Uhse has been one of the 'Jacks' best offensive players through his inaugural collegiate campaign.
• The Grand Prairie, Texas, product leads the team in batting average (.312), hits (54) and runs scored (28).
• He's the only player in SFA's regular rotation who is batting over .300 and his 54 hits are the second-most among all Southland Conference freshmen.

SAVE IT
• A strong bullpen has been a staple of SFA so far this season as the 'Jacks have recorded 17 saves throughout their 21 triumphs so far in 2019. Those 17 saves have helped the 'Jacks match the program record for saves in a season which was originally set by the 2011 club that won a program-best 37 games.
• A team-leading six of those saves have gone to senior left-hander Tyler Starks who has made 22 appearances out of the 'Jacks bullpen. Tuesday evening the Mesquite, Texas, product notched his sixth and most recent save by tossing the final frame of the 'Jacks' non-conference victory at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. In that game, he added to his program-leading appearances mark. He's up to 99 appearances in an SFA uniform and with one 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 19 for his career. He will tie the program record by recording two more saves.
• Five more of SFA's saves have been credited to junior right-hander Jeremy Rodriguez who leads the Southland Conference and ranks 25th nationally with 24 total appearances out of the 'Jacks' bullpen.
• 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.
• Though he has not yet recorded a save in 2019, senior Austin Hearn has been steadily moving up SFA's all-time appearances chart since the year began. Hearn has pitched in 89 games which is the fourth-most by any single player in program history.

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 51st 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 charts and ranks second in the Southland in games started (11). The junior has also racked up 76 strikeouts through his team-leading 73 innings of work.
• 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.

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 on Thursday, April 20.
• Stobart's six wins on the hill represent the team lead and are the fifth-most by any Southland Conference pitcher so far this season. Those six wins also help Stobart rank 61st nationally in pitching wins.

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.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
• One of just three statistical categories where the 'Jacks rank among the top five in the Southland is in terms of fielding percentage.
• SFA's team mark sits at .970 which is the 69th-best in the nation and the fourth-highest among all Southland squads.

SCOUTING McNEESE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Currently the Cowboys' primary goal is to make a strong final push during their last three weeks of regular season league action in order to lock up a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament. McNeese sits in a tie for ninth place in the league standings and trails eighth-place Nicholls by just a single game heading into its series with SFA.
• The Cowboys' series with the 'Jacks represents three of the seven consecutive home games McNeese has coming up in the final month of the regular season.
• Speed and power are two elements the Cowboys have on their side as the lead the Southland and rank 28th nationally with 76 stolen bases. When it comes to power, the Cowboys have socked 39 homers - the second-most by any Southland squad this season.
• Must of the Cowboys' power at the plate comes from the bats of three players - Nate Fisbeck, Carson Maxwell and former Lumberjack Clayton Rasbeary. Fisbeck (.292/.369/.510) and Maxwell (.284/.351/.525) each have 13 doubles and nine home runs to their credit and are tied for the team lead in each of those categories. Together they have driven in 70 runs and are the only two McNeese players with 30 or more RBI so far in 2019.
• Rasbeary ranks third on the team in batting average and owns a season slash line of .293/.392/.491 that's helped along by 12 doubles and seven long balls. His 32 runs scored ranks second on the team behind Fisbeck (34) who also tops the team in hits with 56.
• On the hill, the Cowboys boast one of the Southland's best pitching staffs. McNeese leads the league and ranks 49th nationally by allowing just 8.21 hits per nine innings. The Cowboys' staff is also striking batters out at a rate of 8.7 per nine innings - another Southland-leading figure.
• Friday evening starter Rhett Deaton leads the team in wins with a record of 5-3 and has tossed a staff-high 64 2/3 innings.
• Six Cowboys have totaled over 40 strikeouts but none has more to his credit than relief man Will Dion. He has racked up 46 through 21 appearances and has notched three of the team's 11 saves.
• Second only to Dion, late-inning specialist Aidan Anderson has amassed 44 strikeouts and has been responsible for six of the Cowboys' 11 saves.

ON DECK
• For its final non-conference contest of the regular season, the 'Jacks stay in the Lone Star State and head up to Dallas for a Tuesday evening tilt at Dallas Baptist. First pitch between the 'Jacks and Patriots has been set for 6:30 p.m. from Horner Ballpark.

-SFA-