Lumberjacks Stay Alive with Walk-off Win vs. Southeastern Louisiana
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Jordon Lenaburg hit a walk-off RBI single in
the bottom of the ninth inning to propel Stephen F. Austin to a 4-3 win over
Southeastern Louisiana in the 2012 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament on
Friday to force the "if-necessary" game on Saturday against the Lions.
The Lumberjacks (26-32) were able to erase a 3-0 lead after the
first three innings, holding the Lions (38-20) off the board for the remaining
six frames and stranding 10 Southeastern runners on base to give them a chance
in the ninth.
Max Lamantia finished with two hits and two RBI to lead the
offense and Chase Greening rebounded from a rough start to fire off five solid
innings in his second start since Wednesday. Cory Ochs bridged the gap with
three scoreless innings of relief, while Colton Eubanks got the win with a
scoreless ninth to move to 6-5 on the season.
Jason Greenleaf was solid for the Lions with five innings of
relief of starter Josh Janway, but allowed a pair of runs, including the
winning run to take the loss and fall to 3-2 on the year.
With the win SFA will now take on Southeastern once again on
Saturday at 1 p.m. with the winner advancing to the tournament championship
game at 5 p.m. vs. UT Arlington, which moved on with a walk-off win of its own
earlier in the day over top-seeded Sam Houston State.
Lenaburg's hit came on the first pitch he saw from reliever Matt
Pittari, scoring Freddy Villalobos from third after he had reached on a leadoff
infield hit.
Greening was his own worst enemy in the opening frame, sandwiching
a pair of hit batters around a poor throw on an attempted sacrifice bunt to
load the bases before uncorking a wild pitch to score Harry Slade with the
first Lion run of the game. Cody Gougler then gave Southeastern a 2-0 lead with
a routine grounder to shortstop.
Two innings later, the Lions used some good fortune and aggressive
base running to plate another run using two infield hits and a blooper to score
Brock Hebert, who scored from second on an infield hit with two outs to push
the lead to 3-0.
Meanwhile, Janway retired the first 10 hitters he faced to start
the game before issuing consecutive walks to Hunter Dozier and Bobby Loveless
with one out in the fourth. Max Lamantia and Jarid Scarafiotti then followed
with back-to-back RBI singles, cutting the lead to 3-2 before Southeastern
turned to reliever Jason Greenleaf who proceeded to retire the next two hitters
to end the frame.
Greening kept the Lions off the board again in the next inning and
Ochs came in to do the same in the sixth, giving the SFA chance to knot the
game. Loveless then did his part to open the sixth, tripling off the center
field wall to extend his hit streak to 15 games and scored the tying run one
batter later on a sacrifice fly from Lamantia.
From there Ochs was solid, throwing strikes and allowing just two
base runners in his three innings. Meanwhile, Greenleaf matched him before
Villalobos' single to open the inning eventually spelled trouble for the Lions.
Michael Ruiz entered and executed a bunt to move the runner up and Villalobos
reached third one batter later on an error on shortstop Ben Hernandez. Lenaburg
then came to the plate and shot the first pitch he saw through the right side
of the infield to send SFA to Saturday.
The Lumberjacks will likely throw Eubanks in the start on Saturday
against the Lions against a Southeastern starter to be determined.
Both games on Saturday will be available on ESPN3.
Postgame Quotes
Stephen
F. Austin coach Johnny Cardenas
On
Cory Ochs' performance
"That guy has been really good for us all year long. We haven't
really found a good spot to put him in this week, and we felt that was a spot
that he could shine in because of his pitches. He went in there and did a great
job. He deserves a lot of the credit of getting us where we're at."
On
Jordan Lenaburg coming in and getting a clutch hit
"He's been a great guy for us off the bench. It just seems he
relishes the role off the bench. If you're going to win games this late, you're
going to need guys that accept their roles."
On
having to win two more games
"I told them we have to stick to the plan. We have to get our rest
and hydrate. More importantly, we have to focus on the game in front of us.
That's all we can do at this point."
Stephen
F. Austin pitcher Cory Ochs
On
being able to hold off Southeastern Louisiana late in the game
"I had a lot of faith in my catcher. He called a lot of good
pitches. I let them put them in play and let them get themselves out."
On
the emotion of the day
"We're playing with a lot of emotion right now. Our backs are
against the wall. We love the feel of winning like this. It makes you love
baseball and everything about it."
Stephen
F. Austin pinch-hitter Jordon Lenaburg
On
the game-winning hit
"Coach told me to go in there and not take and just do my job. He
wanted me to win the game. I just came in there and did it."
On
coming into the game with a pressure situation
"I've been pinch hitting pretty much all year. I just try to get
my pitch and do my job. It's as simple as that."
On
the feeling of winning two games today
"It's been great. It's what you live for all the time. It's been a
really great day of baseball in general today. We're thankful to still be in
it."
Updated
Schedule and Results
Wednesday,
May 23
Game 1: No. 4 UT Arlington 6, No. 5 McNeese State 2
Game 2: No. 8 A&M-Corpus Christi 9, No. 1 Sam
Houston State 2
Game 3: No. 3 Texas State 11, No. 6 Stephen F. Austin
1 (7 innings)
Game 4: No. 2 Southeastern La. 6, No. 7 Central
Arkansas 3
Thursday, May
24
Game 5: No. 1 Sam Houston State 7, No. 5McNeese State
1 (Cowboys eliminated)
Game 6: No. 6 Stephen F. Austin 7, No. 7 Central
Arkansas 2 (Bears eliminated)
Game 7: No. 4 UT Arlington 10, No. 8 A&M-Corpus
Christi 5
Game 8: No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana 7, No. 3 Texas
State 1
Friday, May
25
Game 9: No. 1 Sam Houston State 4, No. 8 A&M-Corpus Christi 3 (Islanders
eliminated)
Game 10: No. 6 Stephen F. Austin 9, No. 3 Texas State
7 (Bobcats eliminated)
Game 11: No. 4 UT Arlington 7, No. 1 Sam
Houston State 6 (Bearkats eliminated)
Game 12: Stephen F. Austin 4, No. 2 Southeastern La. 3
Saturday, May
26
Game 13: Not necessary
Game 14: No. 6 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 2
Southeastern Louisiana (H), 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
Championship:
No. 4 UT Arlington vs. Winner Game 14, 5 p.m. (ESPN3)
Home
team for the championship game will be determined after game 14.