Myles Propels Stephen F. Austin to 6-5 Win on Ninth Inning Home Run
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Stephen F. Austin outfielder Bryson Myles, the 2011 Southland Conference Player of the Year, belted a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to lift the second-seeded Lumberjacks to a 6-5 victory over No. 3 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and the school's first appearance in the championship game of the conference tournament.
The Lumberjacks (37-22) built a 4-0 lead in the first two innings, only to see it evaporate in the fifth inning when, the Islanders took a 5-4 lead. The Islanders got a single, three doubles, a triple and a home run in the inning. A&M-Corpus Christi got a two-run homer to straight-away center field from Jacob Perales. Back-to-back double by Caleb Marx and Weston Montgomery yielded another run and a triple by Bobby Buckner tied the game. Jeramie Marek doubled to bring in Buckner for the lead.
Six of the Islanders' seven hits came in that inning. The other, a single by Marek, came with two outs in the seventh, but a ground out ended the inning.
Stephen F. Austin battled back to load the bases in the top of the sixth and got the tying run it needed. Roy Ferdin, who had come on in the fourth for the Islanders, got a ground out and a fly out to start the inning, but gave up back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners. A&M-Corpus Christi coach Scott Malone then went to the bullpen for Phillip Garcia, but he walked Michael Haynes to load the bases. Garcia hit Myles to plate the tying run.
Myles finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs. Riley Huble finished 2-for-4 and Jackson Hood was 2-for-5 as the trio accounted for six of the team's 11 hits. The last five batters in the order totaled seven hits.
SFA starter Zack Taylor pitched into the eighth, but didn't get the decision after handing the game over to Alex Moshier, who picked up the win in 1.2 scoreless innings. He did not allow a hit, but walked one and struck out another to stay perfect in three decisions.
The game was all Lumberjacks in the early going. Myles drew a walk to lead off the game, stole second and scored on a two-out single through the left side by Jarid Scarafiotti to put SFA on the board in the top of the first inning.
The Lumberjacks added three more runs in the second to go up 4-0. Hunter Dozier singled to open the frame and Huble followed with a home run to left field that just cleared the wall. Michael Haynes singled, but got to third on a throwing error by Islander starting pitcher Ian Campbell. Haynes scored on a ground out by Myles.
Tanner Green took the loss for the Islanders to fall to 2-1. The only hit he allowed in 1.2 innings was Myles' team-leading eighth home run of the season.
Stephen F. Austin awaits the winner of the Texas State vs. Nicholls game to play for the championship Saturday at 6 p.m. on the Southland Conference Television Network. The Bobcat and Nicholls play at 1 p.m.
A&M-Corpus Christi concludes its season with a 37-24 record, quite a turnaround for a program that won just 18 and 20 games each of the two previous seasons to make its second appearance in the conference tournament.
Game 13 Quotes
Stephen F. Austin Coach Johnny Cardinas
On Bryson Miles' homerun
"Well he is the best hitter in the conference, you expect him to come up big and he can't come up any bigger than that. That's a big hit to send us into the finals, and he's been doing stuff like that all year for us."
On the five-run fifth for A&M-Corpus Christi
"Any team in this conference is capable of a big inning, so what we had to do right there is realize it was still early and It was still tight, and just not panic. We try to make our game into thirds: the first three, the middle three and last three. We didn't do a good job in the middle, but we did a good job in the first third and last third. Two out of three usually wins a ballgame."
Stephen F. Austin Outfielder Bryson Miles
On homerun
"I knew coming into the inning that we needed something big. They're a great team, but I knew I needed to do something big for my team. I told myself the inning before to look for first pitch curveball and that's what he gave me and I did something with it."
On bouncing back from five-run fifth by Corpus Christi
"That says a lot right there about what kind of team we are We're an older team that's played a lot of games. Corpus did the same thing to us yesterday and a lot of teams would have come in this morning and folded, but we came out and knew this was a game we had to have to get to the championship. Everyone just did their role."
Stephen F. Austin Catcher Riley Huble
On his day at the plate
"They had guys that threw a lot of off-speed stuff, so I tried to look away. The first at bat I was able to take advantage."
On Bryson Miles homerun
"The inning before I told everybody that the pitcher was working guys in. He turned and yanked one and got it good."
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Coach Scott Malone
"I think our league is outstanding. If Stephen F. Austin isn't a regional team I don't know what is. I think Miles might be the best player in the state of Texas. He came up big for them and they were outstanding today. I hope those guys, Texas State and maybe even Nicholls can keep going and represent this league. The league has come too far to not be represented next week. I'm proud of my guys. I thought we played outstanding. Another great game. Everyone in the dugout thought we were going to get it done, even on the last ball."