Friday, February 27
New Orleans, LA
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Photo by: Dontae Mainor
Jacks Hold Off New Orleans to Take Series Opener, 6-5
2/27/2026 10:31:00 PM | Baseball
SFA overcomes UNO’s three-run first, wins SLC opener for first time since 2020
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Cody Templeton worked around a rocky first inning to settle into a solid six-inning effort, Stephen F. Austin pushed across three runs in the sixth to give the former the lead and then turned to their 'pen which held off New Orleans late as Adrian Rubio earned the save with the Jacks winning Friday's Southland Conference opener 6-5 from Maestri Field. SFA improves to 8-3 overall, 1-0 in SLC action, while the Privateers fall to 4-6, 0-1.
Nate Vidlak took over for Templeton to start the post-stretch seventh and was unphased by a one-out error as he fanned the side. He ran into some trouble with two on and two gone in the eighth and the Privateers' Eli Tidwell singled on the first pitch he saw from Vidlak's replacement Kadin Munson to pull the host within a run of the SFA lead. Reid Bowyer got UNO to bounce out of the inning at third unassisted and Rubio pitched around a wall-banging double to lead off the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
UNO's run support of starter William Andrade came in the opening frame as three-hit, one error inning plated three runs, the final two of which came with two outs with the first plated on a double play ball.
Scoring opened for SFA in the second inning when Rodric Black singled on the infield to plate Juan Cantua who scored following a leadoff walk, a steal of second and an advance to third via wild pitch. The Jacks stranded two in the frame but managed to cut into the early UNO advantage at 3-1.
A 5-4-3 double play ended what became a quick third trip to the plate for SFA, but the Jacks tied the contest at three runs each in the fourth before a second-straight inning-ending twin killing. Cantua scored on a passed ball and Cermodrick Bland crossed on a wild pitch as the Jacks walked three times in the inning, while the table for the frame's second run was set by Black who executed a sac bunt to put runners at second and third.
Templeton threw 6.0 innings in his third start of the season working around six hits, five walks and an HBP. Following his first inning, which saw the Privateers plate three runs on three hits, one walk and an error, Templeton settled in allowing just three hits and four walks over the next 5.0 innings. He pitched a two-K second that ended with an impressive direction-shifting put out by Peña, stranded runners at the corners in the third with a browsing punchout and used double plays in the first and fifth innings to limit the host.
SFA rewarded Templeton in the sixth with a 6-3 lead courtesy of a two-run triple by Julian Swift and an RBI single by Mark Henning, both coming with two outs in the inning. Creel singled to shallow right field to keep the frame alive and Josh Ibe drew a walk before Swift's three bagger chased home the pair and led to Henning's ninth RBI of the season.
POSTGAME NOTES
Game two of the three-game series is set for a noon first pitch on Saturday. There will be no livestream of the game, but live stat links will be available at www.SFAjacks.com.
G2 | SFA at NEW ORLEANS
Maestri Field | Feb. 28
PURCHASE TICKETS
Live Stats
SECURE YOUR SEATS TODAY
Single game tickets for all SFA baseball home games are available now. Fans interested in purchasing season ticket packages can secure their seats here. Don't miss out on all the exciting action from Pilgrim's Park this season!
THE 'JACKS HAVE GONE MOBILE
SFA Athletics' newest mobile phone application is designed to bring Lumberjack fans closer to the action than ever before. Available now on both the App Store and Google Play, the new SFA Athletics app delivers schedules, scores, rosters, news, ticket access, and exclusive content right to your phone. Fans can also receive push notifications, so they never miss a moment of the action. Download now: Official SFA Athletics App.
FOLLOW THE JACKS
For all the latest information on SFA baseball, visit SFAjacks.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Jacks on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Nate Vidlak took over for Templeton to start the post-stretch seventh and was unphased by a one-out error as he fanned the side. He ran into some trouble with two on and two gone in the eighth and the Privateers' Eli Tidwell singled on the first pitch he saw from Vidlak's replacement Kadin Munson to pull the host within a run of the SFA lead. Reid Bowyer got UNO to bounce out of the inning at third unassisted and Rubio pitched around a wall-banging double to lead off the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
UNO's run support of starter William Andrade came in the opening frame as three-hit, one error inning plated three runs, the final two of which came with two outs with the first plated on a double play ball.
Scoring opened for SFA in the second inning when Rodric Black singled on the infield to plate Juan Cantua who scored following a leadoff walk, a steal of second and an advance to third via wild pitch. The Jacks stranded two in the frame but managed to cut into the early UNO advantage at 3-1.
A 5-4-3 double play ended what became a quick third trip to the plate for SFA, but the Jacks tied the contest at three runs each in the fourth before a second-straight inning-ending twin killing. Cantua scored on a passed ball and Cermodrick Bland crossed on a wild pitch as the Jacks walked three times in the inning, while the table for the frame's second run was set by Black who executed a sac bunt to put runners at second and third.
Templeton threw 6.0 innings in his third start of the season working around six hits, five walks and an HBP. Following his first inning, which saw the Privateers plate three runs on three hits, one walk and an error, Templeton settled in allowing just three hits and four walks over the next 5.0 innings. He pitched a two-K second that ended with an impressive direction-shifting put out by Peña, stranded runners at the corners in the third with a browsing punchout and used double plays in the first and fifth innings to limit the host.
SFA rewarded Templeton in the sixth with a 6-3 lead courtesy of a two-run triple by Julian Swift and an RBI single by Mark Henning, both coming with two outs in the inning. Creel singled to shallow right field to keep the frame alive and Josh Ibe drew a walk before Swift's three bagger chased home the pair and led to Henning's ninth RBI of the season.
POSTGAME NOTES
- The Jacks win their Southland Conference opener for the first time since 2020
- SFA has won five-straight SLC games dating back to last season
- The Jacks pull within a game of evening the all-time series at 10-10
- SFA moved to 2-2 in one-run games in 2026
- Twelve of the Jacks' 14 hits were singles and it's the seventh game with 10+ base knocks
- SFA has drawn 6+ walks in nine of 11 games this season
- Twelve of the Jacks' last 14 runs have crossed with two outs
- SFA stranded a dozen base runners and kept 10 UNO runners on the basepaths
- Templeton posted a team season-high 6.0 innings pitched on Friday
- With his fourth inning walk in his second plate appearance, Bland's active reached safely streak moved to 31 games
- Swift went 4-for-5 with his two-run triple a key play in the series opener
- It is the first four-hit game by a Lumberjack this season and Swift's fifth multi-hit game of the campaign
- Swift produced his team-leading fourth multi-RBI game
- Bland, Creel, Henning and Cantua all recorded two hits
- It is a team-leading sixth multi-hit game for Bland
Game two of the three-game series is set for a noon first pitch on Saturday. There will be no livestream of the game, but live stat links will be available at www.SFAjacks.com.
G2 | SFA at NEW ORLEANS
Maestri Field | Feb. 28
PURCHASE TICKETS
Live Stats
SECURE YOUR SEATS TODAY
Single game tickets for all SFA baseball home games are available now. Fans interested in purchasing season ticket packages can secure their seats here. Don't miss out on all the exciting action from Pilgrim's Park this season!
THE 'JACKS HAVE GONE MOBILE
SFA Athletics' newest mobile phone application is designed to bring Lumberjack fans closer to the action than ever before. Available now on both the App Store and Google Play, the new SFA Athletics app delivers schedules, scores, rosters, news, ticket access, and exclusive content right to your phone. Fans can also receive push notifications, so they never miss a moment of the action. Download now: Official SFA Athletics App.
FOLLOW THE JACKS
For all the latest information on SFA baseball, visit SFAjacks.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Jacks on X, Instagram and Facebook.
#LogByLog
Team Stats
Batting:
2B: Bland, Cermodrick 1
3B: Swift, Julian 1
RBI: Swift, Julian 2 ; Black, Rodric 1 ; Henning, Mark 1
SH: Black, Rodric 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schneider, Cooper 1 ; Ibe, Josh 1 ; Swift, Julian 1 ; Creel, Jhett 1 ; Cantua, Juan 2
SB: Swift, Julian 1 ; Creel, Jhett 1 ; Cantua, Juan 1
CS: Cantua, Juan 1
HBP: Cantua, Juan 1
Batting:
2B: Tidwell, Eli 1 ; Biddick, Dylan 1
RBI: Tidwell, Eli 2 ; Evans, Karson 1 ; Dominguez, Adrian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Owen 1 ; Tidwell, Eli 1 ; D'Altrui, Jake 1 ; Dominguez, Adrian 1 ; Newman, Kruise 1
HBP: Smith, Owen 1 ; Adcox, Jayden 1
Game Leaders
2b/3b
AB
5
R
1
H
4
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballOF
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RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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