Stephen F. Austin Comes From Behind for 3-2 Win over Lamar
SAN MARCOS, Texas - No. 2 seed Stephen F. Austin fought back from a 2-0 deficit to win its first-ever opening round game in the Southland Conference tournament by a 3-2 score over No. 7 seed Lamar Wednesday at Bobcat Ballpark.
Bryson Myles, the Southland Conference Player of the Year, helped get it started for SFA with a double to lead off the sixth inning. After moving to third with his national-best 51st stolen base of the year, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Darren Crabtree. The inning continued with consecutive singles by Jarid Scarafiotti and Jackson Hood. Hunter Dozier tied the game 2-2 with a base hit to left field.
The Lumberjacks (35-21) won it in the bottom of the eighth inning. After Crabtree drew a one-out walk, Scarafiotti doubled down the left field line to score the decisive run. He tried to stretch it into a triple, but was nabbed at third.
SFA closer Jason West mowed through the Lamar batters in the ninth for his 10th save of the season and help the Lumberjacks to just their second-ever win in the Southland tournament.
Lamar (29-26) touched Lumberjack starter Tyler Herriage for two runs on seven hits in six innings. Stephen Tromblee was tagged with the loss in 1.1 innings of work. Brad Oates pitched 1.2 innings in relief for SFA, but it was Alex Moshier who got the win despite facing just one batter for the final out in the eighth.
The Cardinals scored runs in the second and fifth innings thanks to a double by Pablo Salinas for the first run and a sacrifice fly by Wade Mathis in the fifth.
Scarafiotti, Dozier and Bryce Cummings each had two hits for the Lumberjacks, who totaled eight hits. Aaron Buchanan led Lamar's seven-hit offense with two hits.
With the win, Stephen F. Austin moves on to play UTSA Thursday at 4 p.m. Lamar faces an elimination game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Thursday at 9 a.m. Streaming of very game of the tournament is available on SLC NOW on Southland.org.
Game Two Quotes
Stephen F. Austin Coach Johnny Cardenas
On the game-winning RBI
"I knew if we could get one in the gap we could score Crabtree from first, but I didn't know it was going to be down the line. Great job on his part, having to catch in this heat, that many innings, in this tough of a game showed a lot of character from that kid."
On the significance of winning the first game
"It's the first win we've had since I've been here, and the first win we've ever had on day one, so that's really big. That sets you up to do some damage, and stay a little longer. It's never any good to come in as a two-seed and be two-and-done, so that's really been the focus for our guys.
"You can't take anything away from Lamar. They did a great job. That's a testament to how tough our conference is. Our conference has come a long way. When a seven-seed plays a two-seed all the way to the end, it means that your conference is moving in the right direction."
Lamar Coach Jim Gilligan
"This was a heart breaker. Blake just did a phenomenal job. It's hot out here; this is probably as hot as any day he's thrown this year. He was out of gas when I went out to get him. When the inning got extended, he made a couple of bad pitches. On a day like this you want to take your outs where you can get them. He made a couple of bad pitches-the only ones he made all day- when he should have been in the dugout getting ready for the next inning. It was a winnable ballgame."
On Salinas hitting a double and driving in a run
"It is (hard to get runs against SFA); we had first and third with less than two outs and we didn't score another one. We could have pushed across a couple more. Sometimes you get so used to playing teams close that you're afraid to open one up."