Lumberjacks Fall to Demons in Rubber Match

Sunday, April 27

Nacogdoches, TX

1:05 PM

Stephen F. Austin

12-30, 4-16

Northwestern State University

27-18, 17-10

Northwestern St.

Stephen F. Austin

Lumberjacks Fall to Demons in Rubber Match

4/27/2025 5:02:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks Baseball Team (12-29, 4-19 SLC) fell to rival Northwestern State University (26-18, 16-10 SLC) 7-5 in the series rubber match on Sunday afternoon.

Following a scoreless first inning from both sides, the Demons got on the board with a pair of runs in the top of the second to take an early 2-0 lead. Both teams would exchange a scoreless third inning before the Lumberjack offense broke the ice in the home half of the fourth inning.

Cermodrick Bland led off the fourth with a walk and showed off his wheels as he promptly stole both second and third to put a runner 90 feet away from scoring for SFA. Mark Henning would draw a two-out walk to put runners on the corners for SFA, and Julian Swift would come through for the SFA offense as he lined a double to left to score both Henning and Swift and knot the score at two runs apiece. The SFA offense wasn't done in the fourth however, as Kevin Duran would single through the right side to score Swift and put SFA ahead 3-2 after four full innings.

The Demons would respond with an RBI double in the top of the fifth to tie the score back at three runs apiece, however, SFA would once again have an answer in the bottom of the fifth. Ethan Adkisson would double to lead off the inning, before he advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Matthew Reinholtz, and later scored on a Cermodrick Bland sacrifice fly to re-establish the lead for SFA at 4-3. Dalton Mullins would tack on another run for SFA in the inning as he launched his first home run of the season over the right center-field wall to give SFA a 5-3 lead after five full innings.

The two schools would exchange a scoreless sixth inning, before NSU would add a run in the top of the seventh to trim the SFA lead to 5-4. The Demons would add on three runs in the top of the eighth to take a 7-5 lead over SFA heading to the bottom of the eighth. The Lumberjacks would put runners on base in both the eighth and ninth innings but were unable to find the equalizing runs and eventually fell 7-5 in the series finale to the Demons.

Austin Anderson (3-0) took the win on the mound for the Demons while Elian Balmaceda (0-6) was tagged with the loss for SFA.

Top Lumberjacks of the Game:

Kevin Duran: 3-4, RBI
Julian Swift: 1-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI
Cermodrick Bland: R, RBI, BB, 2 SB
Jack James: 5.0 IP, 2 R, ER, 4 H, 5 K

On Deck:

The Lumberjacks hit the road as they travel to Grambling to square off with Grambling State University in a Tuesday evening midweek showdown. First pitch for Tuesday's game is set for 6:00 p.m. CST.

Ticket Information:

Join SFA Baseball at Pilgrim's Park this season! Single-game tickets are on sale now. Fans can visit SFAtickets.com for more information.

Follow the Lumberjacks:

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