Stephen F. Austin
Sacred Heart
McMullen's Multi-Homer Assault Leads 'Jacks' 15-1 Sunday Rout of Sacred Heart
2/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Stephen F. Austin 15, Sacred Heart 1
Jaycees Field • Nacogdoches, Texas
Records: SFA (5-3) • SHU (0-3)
Pitching Records: SFA | Patrick Ledet (1-0) • SHU | Brent Teller (0-1)
Up next: vs. UT Arlington • Tuesday, March 1 • 4:00 p.m.
NACOGDOCHS, Texas - Making sure the Sacred Heart pitching staff would have to endure a long day, the Stephen F. Austin baseball team brandished its power at the plate by amassing 19 hits in a 15-1 series-sweeping rout of the Pioneers on Sunday afternoon.
Junior Garrett McMullen concluded to feast on the Pioneers' arms, going 2-for-3 and mashing a pair of two-run round-trippers to account for his game-high four RBI. Tyler Kendrick notched his first four-hit day in an SFA uniform, going 4-for-4 with an RBI as well as a game-best three runs scored.
Four SFA arms - foremost among them starter Patrick Ledet - joined forces to produce a six-hit, one-run effort while toeing the rubber. Ledet, who hails from Nacogdoches, fired six full innings and struck out five while giving up five hits, three walks and the game's lone run. With the win, the 'Jacks register their first series sweep since winning three in a row against UT-Martin in 2014.
The Pioneers lone run came during their first series of at-bats. Jesus Medina took a one-out walk and advanced all the way to third, setting the table for Victor Sorrento's two-out, RBI infield single.
That Sacred Heart lead did not last very long, however, as control issues and the `Jacks hot bats got to starter Brent Teller early on. After a sacrifice bunt by McMullen pushed a pair of SFA runners into scoring position, Kyle Thornell tied things up with an infield single of his own that scored Matthew Dickey.
Conner Fikes pushed the home team in front for good when his two-run single allowed Thornell and Keidrick to touch home, giving the `Jacks a 3-1 edge. Slayton Vaughan put the wraps on the four-run SFA first with an RBI single up the middle to score Zach Michener. Teller was relieved of his duties after two innings in which he was knocked around for six hits and six runs.
McMullen increased the `Jacks growing advantage to 6-1 with one two-run shot in both the second and fourth innings. From there, the rout was on as the `Jacks registered just one scoreless frame in the game. SFA plated two runs each in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings and after Ledet headed back to the dugout after six frames, Anthony Soriano, Austin Smith and Seth Campbell each tossed a scoreless inning and surrendered a hit and two walks combined the rest of the way.
Fikes was the only other SFA player besides McMullen who had more than one RBI. Thornell and Vaughan each finished with two hits to their credit, giving SFA four multi-hit performers in the rout.
Zach Valenzuela joined Fikes as the only other `Jacks besides McMullen to amass more than one RBI. The aforementioned pair each had two while Austin Smith, Alex Hrinevich and Tyler Boxwell also collected a run batted in.
On Tuesday afternoon, the `Jacks will put their three-game winning streak on the line and try to capture their second win over UT Arlington this season. The Mavericks make the trip to Jaycees Field to close out the `Jacks four-game homestand with the first pitch set for 4:00 p.m.
-SFA-
