
Lumberjacks Outslug Cardinals in Series Opener Thriller
5/8/2025 9:30:00 PM | Baseball
The Cardinals struck early in this one, setting the stage for an offensive explosion from both sides, as they scored in the top of the first to take an early 1-0 lead. The Lumberjacks responded right back in the home half of the first, however, as Cooper Schneider clubbed his second home run of the season to left center to tie the score at one apiece after the first.
SFA would strike again in the bottom of the second as Kevin Duran led off the inning with a walk, promptly stole second, and came around to score on a Dalton Mullins groundout to give SFA a 2-1 lead after two full innings of play. Both teams would exchange scoreless third and fourth innings, before the offensive floodgates opened for both offenses.
The Cardinals would plate four runs in the top of the fifth to take a 5-2 lead over SFA, however, that lead was short lived as SFA had a response in the bottom of the fifth. Dalton Mullins led off the inning with a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a Cermodrick Bland single. Josh Ibe was intentionally walked to load the bases for SFA, and Julian Swift took full advantage of the situation as he blasted a grand slam to left center field, his first career grand slam and second home run of the season, to launch SFA back in the lead 6-5 after five full innings of play.
The sixth inning saw both offenses continue to pour on the runs as the Cardinals added on six more runs to claim a 10-6 lead over the 'Jacks. However, the Lumberjacks would once again fight back in the bottom half of the inning as Ethan Adkisson led off the sixth with a walk and advanced to second on a Dalton Mullins single. Cermodrick Bland laced a double into left to plate Adkisson and cut the UIW lead to 10-7. Josh Ibe would step in and leave the Cardinals wishing they had intentionally walked him a second time as he blasted a three-run bomb to left for his 14th long ball of the season, knotting the score at 10 all. The Lumberjacks kept the base runners coming as Julian Swift would single, before Mark Henning and Kevin Duran followed suit with walks to load the bases once again for SFA. Ethan Adkisson would reach first on an error, allowing both Swift and Henning to score and give SFA the lead right back at 12-10 after six full innings of play.
Incarnate Word would score a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to tie the score back at 12 runs apiece, however, SFA would again strike back in their half of the inning to keep themselves in front. Austin Cadroy drew a one-out walk, before Cermodrick Bland would single and Cooper Schneider would walk to load the bases for a second straight inning for SFA. Julian Swift would continue to torment the Cardinals as he lined a two-run single into center to score both Bland and Cadroy to re-establish the lead for SFA at 14-12 after seven full innings of play.
Both offenses would quiet down over the final two innings as Reid Bowyer and Elian Balmaceda would silence the Cardinals bats over the eighth and ninth innings to lock down the 14-12 win for SFA in the series opener.
Win: Reid Bowyer (3-1)
Loss: Bruno Robles (1-1)
Save: Elian Balmaceda (3)
Top Lumberjacks of the Game:
- Julian Swift: 4-5, 2 R, HR (second of season), 6 RBI (career-high), Grand Slam (first of career)
- Cermodrick Bland: 3-6, 3 R, 2B, RBI
- Josh Ibe: 1-4, 2 R, HR (14th of season), 3 RBI, BB, IBB
- Ethan Adkisson: 1-3, R, 2 BB, 2 RBI
- Reid Bowyer: 2.1 IP, 2 H, BB, K
On Deck:
The Lumberjacks get set for game two of this three-game series against the Cardinals tomorrow, May 9th, with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 p.m. CST at Pilgrim's Park.
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.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bowyer, Reid (3-1)
L: Robles (1-1)
S: Balmaceda, Elian (4)
Batting:
2B: RMendoza 1 ; Herrera 1 ; Calabrese 2 ; Cowan 1 ; Bane 1
HR: Liddington 1
RBI: Lyssy 1 ; Liddington 1 ; RMendoza 2 ; Herrera 4 ; Cowan 2 ; Bane 1 ; Hernandez 1
SF: Bane 1 ; Hernandez 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lyssy 2 ; Liddington 2 ; RMendoza 2 ; Weaver 1 ; Calabrese 2 ; Cowan 2 ; Bane 1

Batting:
2B: Bland, Cermodrick 1
HR: Schneider, Cooper 1 ; Ibe, Josh 1 ; Swift, Julian 1
RBI: Bland, Cermodrick 1 ; Schneider, Cooper 1 ; Ibe, Josh 3 ; Swift, Julian 6 ; Adkisson, Ethan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bland, Cermodrick 3 ; Schneider, Cooper 1 ; Ibe, Josh 2 ; Swift, Julian 2 ; Henning, Mark 1 ; Duran, Kevin 1 ; Adkisson, Ethan 1 ; Mullins, Dalton 2 ; Cadroy, Austin 1
SB: Bland, Cermodrick 1 ; Henning, Mark 1 ; Duran, Kevin 3 ; Adkisson, Ethan 1 ; Mullins, Dalton 1