NACOGDOCHES, Texas – HBU struggled offensively in the first game, a 3-1 loss, then once the bats awoke in game two, the bullpen came unraveled in an 11-10 setback in game two as Stephen F. Austin swept the Southland Conference doubleheader, the final regular-season games for the two schools, Friday afternoon at Jaycees Field.
In the first game, senior third baseman
Austin Zillweger went 3-for-4. Junior shortstop
Tyler Depreta-Johnson drove in the Huskies' lone run after senior rightfielder
Brandon Brintz doubled.
Senior lefthander
Christian Thames (7-4) took the loss, allowing two runs on six hits with three walks in 3.0 innings, while also going 2-for-3 with a double at the plate. Sophomore righthander
Zach Carter allowed one run on three hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 5.0 innings of relief.
Nick Ramos went 3-for-3 and scored twice for SFA (29-26, 17-13), while Zac Michener went 2-for-4 with a double and drove in three. Conner Fikes went 2-for-4 and scored.
Patrick Ledet (7-5) earned the win, holding the Huskies to one run on four hits with four strikeouts in 6.2 innings, while Will Vest picked up the save, giving up five hits in 2.1 innings.
In the second game, Brintz went 2-for-5 with a double and drove in two runs in the top of the ninth inning that gave the Huskies a 10-8 lead. Junior leftfielder
Spencer Halloran went 2-for-5, also drove in a pair and scored a run. Zillweger went 1-for-2, walked twice and drove in two, while Thames went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI and scored twice. Junior second baseman
Jack Fitzgerald went 2-for-2 with a walk, a hit by pitch, an RBI and a run. Junior first baseman
Jake Pulcheon homered and scored twice.
Junior
Weston Smart (1-2) took the loss, giving up three runs on three hits in one inning. Starter
Daniel Endsley allowed five runs on six hits with a strikeout and four walks in 3.2 innings, while sophomore
JT Newton gave up three runs on five hits with a strikeout and two walks in 3.1 innings.
Ramos went 5-for-6 with an RBI and scored four times for the Lumberjacks, while Michener went 2-for-6 with a home run and five RBIs, including a game-tying two-run single in the ninth. Conner Fikes went 1-for-2 with four walks, an RBI and scored three times, while Tyler Kendrick went 2-for-4 and scored two runs. Alex Hrinevich drove in the game-winning run with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly.
The Huskies return to action in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament Wednesday at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas. HBU will be the No. 4 seed and will face the No. 5 seed, which is still to be determined, at 7 p.m.
