Stephen F. Austin
Abilene Christian
How Sweep It Is! 'Jacks Finish off Three-Game Sweep of ACU in 7-2 Sunday Win
5/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Stephen F. Austin 7, Abilene Christian 2
Crutcher Scott Field • Abilene, Texas
SFA | 7 • 11 • 3
ACU | 2 • 5 • 2
Records: SFA (23-21, 11-13 SLC), ACU (13-28, 5-16 SLC)
Pitching Records: W • Tyler Starks (3-1) | L • Kyle Carroll (3-6)
Up next: vs. Little Rock (21-20) • Tuesday, May 3 • 6:30 p.m. • Jaycees Field
ABILENE, Texas – Neither Tyler Starks, Austin Hearn or Seth Campbell were on the radar of the Stephen F. Austin baseball team the last time the ‘Jacks recorded a three-game sweep of a Southland Conference opponent.
So, the trio of freshmen decided to play a big part in making sure the ‘Jacks didn’t squander their opportunity to bust out the brooms when it presented itself on Sunday afternoon.
Backed by some small ball early on and a Zac Michener solo home run as well as a three-run double by Garrett McMullen late, Starks picked up his thrd win, Hearn and Campbell held Abilene Christian scoreless in four innings of relief and SFA took down the Wildcats 7-2 on Sunday afternoon.
Now winners of four in a row and six of their last seven, the ‘Jacks maintained their standing as the eighth-place team in the Southland Conference by putting the finishing touches on their sweep.
Highly effective in his first collegiate start, Starks’ only pair of runs were of the unearned variety as the ‘Jacks committed all three of their errors when the Mesquite, Texas, product was on the bump. Through his five innings of work, Starks was tagged for just three hits while issuing just one base on balls and retiring seven via the strikeout.
A pair of Wildcat miscues in the ‘Jacks’ first set of at-bats gave the visitors a lead they never relinquished. Nick Ramos reached on a one-out single and made his way to second on a misplayed ball in the outfield. From there, Kyle Thornell lifted a fly ball to left-center which was also handled poorly by the ACU center fielder, allowing Ramos to come home.
Putting his speed on full display, Matthew Dickey made it a 2-0 SFA lead in the third as he swiped both second and third following his one-out single up the middle. Ramos picked up his only RBI of the afternoon when his sacrifice fly to deep center plated Dickey.
After the Wildcats cut the SFA lead in half in the bottom of the third, Clark Kahawaii raised it right back to two runs in the fourth. Conner Fikes and Zac Michener started the frame with a double and a single respectively before SFA’s catcher shot a single through the left side.
ACU added their final run of the day in the fifth before the ‘Jacks busted out their big bats to finish off the sweep. Michener connected on a two-out, solo home run to right-center in the sixth and Garrett McMullen’s bases-clearing, three-run double in the seventh finished the job.
Once Starks’ performance was in the books, fellow freshman Austin Hearn took over and shut the Wildcats for three shutout innings before Seth Campbell closed out the ‘Jacks’ first Southland Conference sweep since 2013 by tossing a scoreless ninth.
Dickey, Michener and Eric DeJesus – who entered as the ‘Jacks new third baseman in the sixth – each registered a pair of hits. A senior, Dickey swiped a total of three bases and scored a pair of runs.
Riding a four-game winning streak, the ‘Jacks return to Jaycees Field for their next four tilts beginning with a Tuesday evening, non-conference showdown with Little Rock at 6:30 p.m.
-SFA-
