Tuesday, February 20
Nacogdoches, TX
3:30 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
1-8
3
vs
5
Sam Houston
3-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Sam Houston St.
0
3
0
0
1
0
1
5
5
2
Stephen F. Austin
0
0
2
0
0
0
1
3
7
1
Lumberjacks Bats Come Alive as They Split Doubleheader with ‘Kats
2/20/2024 9:30:00 PM | Softball
NACOGDOCHES, Texas. - The Stephen F. Austin Softball team (2-8, 0-0) hosted their second home doubleheader this season as they hosted the visiting Sam Houston Bearkats (3-6, 0-0), with SFA dropping the first game 5-3, before rallying for a massive 11-5 win in the second game of the night.
Game 1: Sam Houston 5, SFA 3
The first game of the doubleheader saw starter Aydenne Brown draw her fourth start on the bump for SFA, which saw her pitch a 1-2-3 first inning ending the first on a strikeout. The bottom of the first saw the Lumberjacks load the bases with only one out, however, Daryn Grams worked out of trouble by punching out a pair of 'Jacks to keep the game scoreless. The top of the second saw Sam Houston plate the first three runs of the game, to which the Lumberjacks responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. SFA got their side of the scoring started thanks to Alexis Telford as she showed off her dual threat ability by drawing the start at first base and slapping a single to right center which brought Veronica Cully around from second to score and advance Lexi Benson to third and cut the Sam lead down to 3-1. The very next batter, Kelby Robbins sent a ball through the left side to bring Benson into score and trim the Bearkat lead to 3-2. The two schools exchanged scoreless fourth innings before Sam Houston plated a run in both the fifth and seventh inning to push their lead to 5-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh. The Lumberjacks fought until their very last out as they were able to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh, scoring a run thanks to Emily Land's RBI single to score Chloe Reneau, however, the 'Kats were able to hang on for a 5-3 win in the doubleheader opener.
Ellie Vance led the way for SFA as she recorded two hits while showing off her speed as she opened the game with a single and wasted no time moving into scoring position as she stole second immediately after getting on first. In addition to Vance, six other Lumberjacks recorded hits as Madison Nguyen, Brittany Coe, Alexis Telford, Kelby Robbins, and Emily Land all recorded hits.
Defensively, there was no shortage of web gems as Ellie Vance made a superb defensive play in the top of the sixth that saw her make a diving grab to her right, get up and tag her glove on second to beat Ellie Grill and get the force out to end the inning. Madison Nguyen followed suit in the top of the seventh that saw her first make an excellent running catch in foul territory, before following that up with a sprawling diving catch on a shallow blooper to left field to rob Elia Hebel of a base hit.
Game 2: SFA 11, Sam Houston 5
History is always bound to repeat itself at some point and sports history is no exception. For SFA, it came in the form of a similar outcome spaced almost eight years apart. On May 12, 2016 the Lumberjacks faced an almost insurmountable deficit to these Sam Houston Bearkats as they trailed 10-3 heading into the top of the seventh. Try as they might, the Bearkats could not fully put SFA away as the Lumberjacks stormed back for a whopping 11 runs in the top of the seventh to take an improbable 14-10 lead against the 'Kats that saw them score nine of the 11 runs with two outs and complete an epic comeback with a 14-11 win in the Southland Conference Tournament over Sam Houston.
While not facing quite the same deficit in tonight's game, the Lumberjacks still recreated history in almost identical fashion by scoring double-digit runs in one inning to help steal a win away from the same Sam Houston they broke the hearts of eight years ago. Alexis Telford, fresh off a start at first base in game one of the doubleheader, showed how valuable she is to the SFA lineup as she got the starting nod in game two of the doubleheader and pitched a clean first inning that saw both teams scoreless heading into the second. Sam Houston got the scoring started for both sides for a second straight game as they jumped out to another early lead as they led 3-0 heading into the bottom of the third. Following an Ellie Vance single to right, Madison Nguyen laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Vance into scoring position and Brittany Coe did all the rest as she lined a ball back up the middle to plate Vance and get SFA on the board trailing 3-1. The Bearkats would plate a run in the fourth and fifth innings and extend their lead to 5-1 with SFA seemingly headed for another frustrating loss.
However, the Lumberjacks saved their best for last as they pulled out some late game fireworks to help secure their second win of the season. The question in the bottom of the sixth was not if the Lumberjacks would score enough runs, it was how many runs they would finish the inning with. The offensive explosion got started thanks to a leadoff double from do-it-all player Alexis Telford, who then advanced to third on a single from Kylie Bishop. Emily Land stepped into the box with a pair of runners on and made no mistake as she drove a screeching line drive down the left field line to plate both Bishop and Telford and inch SFA closer at 5-3. Following back-to-back walks to Mikaelah Burkland and Chloe Reneau, Ellie Vance showed incredible patience by drawing a bases loaded walk that brought home Emily Land and SFA suddenly trailed by a single run at 5-4. Madison Nguyen stepped in and slapped an infield single to third base as her incredible speed caused Allie Saville to hesitate just enough on the throw to allow Burkland to score and Nguyen to reach safely. Brittany Coe recorded her second RBI of the game as she smoked a ball to left that was plenty deep for Chloe Reneau to score standing up and give SFA their first lead of the night at 6-5.
The Lumberjack lineup batted around in the bottom of the sixth as Alexis Telford stepped up for the second time in the sixth and beat out the throw to record an infield RBI single to score Ellie Vance and extend the SFA lead to 7-5. However, the Lumberjacks were far from done pouring on the runs as Kylie Bishop dumped a single into right field to score Madison Nguyen and move SFA ahead by three at 8-5. Emily Land recorded her third RBI of the inning thanks to a deep fly out to left that easily plated Lexi Benson and gave SFA a 9-5 lead. The 'Jacks didn't stop there though as they accomplished something that had not been done at SFA in almost eight years. Mikaelah Burkland crushed a double to left field that scored both Kylie Bishop and Alexis Telford to cap the historic inning, which gave SFA plenty of insurance runs but also marked their 10th run of the inning making it the first time in almost eight years that unique feat had been achieved. Brooke Gainous, who came into relieve Telford in the sixth, made sure the Bearkats had no chance of a comeback as she pitched a clean 1-2-3 top of the seventh to seal the win for SFA.
Despite it being a chilly Tuesday evening in Nacogdoches, the Lumberjack bats were red hot in this one as they fought the cold and erupted for 11 runs on 13 hits while drawing five walks. Eight different Lumberjacks recorded at least one hit in the epic win led by Kylie Bishop who went a solid 3-4 from the plate with an RBI. Three different 'Jacks recorded a pair of hits as Ellie Vance, Alexis Telford, and Emily Land all had two hits with both Land and Telford having a double. Lexi Benson, Madison Nguyen, Brittany Coe, Alex Dubose, and Mikaelah Burkland all had a hit each, while Land was an RBI machine in this one as she led the team with three driven in, while Coe and Burkland had a pair of RBIs each.
Ellie Vance made another defensive gem in the fourth inning, as she made another diving stop in the infield to rob Jenny Robison of a hit, but took it a step further by stepping on the second base bag for the out then throwing a dart across the diamond to Alex Dubose right before Robison could get there to complete the 4-3 double play, while Dubose led the team with seven putouts on the night.
The Lumberjacks will look to carry over this momentum and confidence with them as they get set to travel to Denton to participate in the UNT Invite which will see them face-off against four different teams that includes two power-five teams in Texas Tech, and University of Minnesota, as well as University of New Mexico, and the host UNT Mean Green. The 'Jacks kick-off the invite with a Friday double-header that will see them wrestle with the Red Raiders of Texas Tech at 9:00 a.m. CST on the 23rd before finishing the first day against the University of New Mexico Lobos and former Lumberjack Head Coach Nicole Dickson with first pitch scheduled for 11:30 a.m. CST.
Game 1: Sam Houston 5, SFA 3
The first game of the doubleheader saw starter Aydenne Brown draw her fourth start on the bump for SFA, which saw her pitch a 1-2-3 first inning ending the first on a strikeout. The bottom of the first saw the Lumberjacks load the bases with only one out, however, Daryn Grams worked out of trouble by punching out a pair of 'Jacks to keep the game scoreless. The top of the second saw Sam Houston plate the first three runs of the game, to which the Lumberjacks responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. SFA got their side of the scoring started thanks to Alexis Telford as she showed off her dual threat ability by drawing the start at first base and slapping a single to right center which brought Veronica Cully around from second to score and advance Lexi Benson to third and cut the Sam lead down to 3-1. The very next batter, Kelby Robbins sent a ball through the left side to bring Benson into score and trim the Bearkat lead to 3-2. The two schools exchanged scoreless fourth innings before Sam Houston plated a run in both the fifth and seventh inning to push their lead to 5-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh. The Lumberjacks fought until their very last out as they were able to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh, scoring a run thanks to Emily Land's RBI single to score Chloe Reneau, however, the 'Kats were able to hang on for a 5-3 win in the doubleheader opener.
Ellie Vance led the way for SFA as she recorded two hits while showing off her speed as she opened the game with a single and wasted no time moving into scoring position as she stole second immediately after getting on first. In addition to Vance, six other Lumberjacks recorded hits as Madison Nguyen, Brittany Coe, Alexis Telford, Kelby Robbins, and Emily Land all recorded hits.
Defensively, there was no shortage of web gems as Ellie Vance made a superb defensive play in the top of the sixth that saw her make a diving grab to her right, get up and tag her glove on second to beat Ellie Grill and get the force out to end the inning. Madison Nguyen followed suit in the top of the seventh that saw her first make an excellent running catch in foul territory, before following that up with a sprawling diving catch on a shallow blooper to left field to rob Elia Hebel of a base hit.
Game 2: SFA 11, Sam Houston 5
History is always bound to repeat itself at some point and sports history is no exception. For SFA, it came in the form of a similar outcome spaced almost eight years apart. On May 12, 2016 the Lumberjacks faced an almost insurmountable deficit to these Sam Houston Bearkats as they trailed 10-3 heading into the top of the seventh. Try as they might, the Bearkats could not fully put SFA away as the Lumberjacks stormed back for a whopping 11 runs in the top of the seventh to take an improbable 14-10 lead against the 'Kats that saw them score nine of the 11 runs with two outs and complete an epic comeback with a 14-11 win in the Southland Conference Tournament over Sam Houston.
While not facing quite the same deficit in tonight's game, the Lumberjacks still recreated history in almost identical fashion by scoring double-digit runs in one inning to help steal a win away from the same Sam Houston they broke the hearts of eight years ago. Alexis Telford, fresh off a start at first base in game one of the doubleheader, showed how valuable she is to the SFA lineup as she got the starting nod in game two of the doubleheader and pitched a clean first inning that saw both teams scoreless heading into the second. Sam Houston got the scoring started for both sides for a second straight game as they jumped out to another early lead as they led 3-0 heading into the bottom of the third. Following an Ellie Vance single to right, Madison Nguyen laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Vance into scoring position and Brittany Coe did all the rest as she lined a ball back up the middle to plate Vance and get SFA on the board trailing 3-1. The Bearkats would plate a run in the fourth and fifth innings and extend their lead to 5-1 with SFA seemingly headed for another frustrating loss.
However, the Lumberjacks saved their best for last as they pulled out some late game fireworks to help secure their second win of the season. The question in the bottom of the sixth was not if the Lumberjacks would score enough runs, it was how many runs they would finish the inning with. The offensive explosion got started thanks to a leadoff double from do-it-all player Alexis Telford, who then advanced to third on a single from Kylie Bishop. Emily Land stepped into the box with a pair of runners on and made no mistake as she drove a screeching line drive down the left field line to plate both Bishop and Telford and inch SFA closer at 5-3. Following back-to-back walks to Mikaelah Burkland and Chloe Reneau, Ellie Vance showed incredible patience by drawing a bases loaded walk that brought home Emily Land and SFA suddenly trailed by a single run at 5-4. Madison Nguyen stepped in and slapped an infield single to third base as her incredible speed caused Allie Saville to hesitate just enough on the throw to allow Burkland to score and Nguyen to reach safely. Brittany Coe recorded her second RBI of the game as she smoked a ball to left that was plenty deep for Chloe Reneau to score standing up and give SFA their first lead of the night at 6-5.
The Lumberjack lineup batted around in the bottom of the sixth as Alexis Telford stepped up for the second time in the sixth and beat out the throw to record an infield RBI single to score Ellie Vance and extend the SFA lead to 7-5. However, the Lumberjacks were far from done pouring on the runs as Kylie Bishop dumped a single into right field to score Madison Nguyen and move SFA ahead by three at 8-5. Emily Land recorded her third RBI of the inning thanks to a deep fly out to left that easily plated Lexi Benson and gave SFA a 9-5 lead. The 'Jacks didn't stop there though as they accomplished something that had not been done at SFA in almost eight years. Mikaelah Burkland crushed a double to left field that scored both Kylie Bishop and Alexis Telford to cap the historic inning, which gave SFA plenty of insurance runs but also marked their 10th run of the inning making it the first time in almost eight years that unique feat had been achieved. Brooke Gainous, who came into relieve Telford in the sixth, made sure the Bearkats had no chance of a comeback as she pitched a clean 1-2-3 top of the seventh to seal the win for SFA.
Despite it being a chilly Tuesday evening in Nacogdoches, the Lumberjack bats were red hot in this one as they fought the cold and erupted for 11 runs on 13 hits while drawing five walks. Eight different Lumberjacks recorded at least one hit in the epic win led by Kylie Bishop who went a solid 3-4 from the plate with an RBI. Three different 'Jacks recorded a pair of hits as Ellie Vance, Alexis Telford, and Emily Land all had two hits with both Land and Telford having a double. Lexi Benson, Madison Nguyen, Brittany Coe, Alex Dubose, and Mikaelah Burkland all had a hit each, while Land was an RBI machine in this one as she led the team with three driven in, while Coe and Burkland had a pair of RBIs each.
Ellie Vance made another defensive gem in the fourth inning, as she made another diving stop in the infield to rob Jenny Robison of a hit, but took it a step further by stepping on the second base bag for the out then throwing a dart across the diamond to Alex Dubose right before Robison could get there to complete the 4-3 double play, while Dubose led the team with seven putouts on the night.
The Lumberjacks will look to carry over this momentum and confidence with them as they get set to travel to Denton to participate in the UNT Invite which will see them face-off against four different teams that includes two power-five teams in Texas Tech, and University of Minnesota, as well as University of New Mexico, and the host UNT Mean Green. The 'Jacks kick-off the invite with a Friday double-header that will see them wrestle with the Red Raiders of Texas Tech at 9:00 a.m. CST on the 23rd before finishing the first day against the University of New Mexico Lobos and former Lumberjack Head Coach Nicole Dickson with first pitch scheduled for 11:30 a.m. CST.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gainous, Brooke (1-2)
L: M. Vento (0-3)
Batting:
2B: A. Saville 1
3B: M. Holliday 1
RBI: A. Saville 3 ; H. Scheaffer 2
SH: E. Hebel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: H. Carter 2 ; B. Quinlan 1 ; M. Holliday 2
SB: M. Holliday 1
HBP: M. Holliday 1
Batting:
2B: Telford, Alexis 1 ; Land, Emily 1 ; Burkland, Mikaelah 1
RBI: Vance, Ellie 1 ; Nguyen, Madison 1 ; Coe, Brittany 2 ; Telford, Alexis 1 ; Bishop, Kylie 1 ; Land, Emily 3 ; Burkland, Mikaelah 2
SH: Nguyen, Madison 1
SF: Coe, Brittany 1 ; Land, Emily 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vance, Ellie 2 ; Nguyen, Madison 1 ; Benson, Lexi 1 ; Telford, Alexis 2 ; Bishop, Kylie 2 ; Land, Emily 1 ; Burkland, Mikaelah 1 ; Reneau, Chloe 1
SB: Paul, Kaylee 1
HBP: Coe, Brittany 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
p/1b
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
OF/P
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C/IF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C/3B
/ Softball
OF/IF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball2.1.24 | Axe 'Em Insider Ep. 24 x Softball
Friday, February 02
Softball - Stephen F. Austin - 02/22/2017: Stephen F. Austin
Wednesday, February 22
Softball - Stephen F. Austin - 02/22/2017: Stephen F. Austin
Wednesday, February 22
SFA Completes Epic Comeback: SFA Softball
Thursday, May 12
