NOCOGDOCHES, Texas | The Grambling State University baseball team surrendered five runs in the first inning, but could not erase the early deficit in a 6-2 loss to Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday night at Jaycees Field.
Grambling State (14-18) saw its two-game winning streak snapped, while Stephen F. Austin (15-19) snapped a four-game skid.
How It Happened
Stephen F. Austin exploded with five runs on four hits in the bottom of the first inning to stake a 5-0 lead.
The 'Jacks extended the lead to 6-0 with a run in the fourth.
Grambling State cut the deficit to 6-1 with one run in the top of the fifth.
With one down in the frame,
Kevin Whitaker, Jr. walked and advanced to second when
Nick Wheeler drew a base on balls.
Garrett Smith was issued a walk to load the bases and forced Stephen F. Austin to change pitchers. After the pitching change, Phil Adams, Jr., who pinch hit for
Warren Laster, walked to bring in Whitaker from third. However, that would be all the Tigers would get in the frame as
Drexler Macaay and
Isaiah Torres struck out to end the GSU threat.
The Tigers continued to claw back with a run in the seventh.
Smith opened with a walk and moved to second on an Adams single through the right side. With two out,
Richard Ortiz delivered an RBI single up the middle to cut the 'Jacks lead to 6-2.
Inside the Numbers
> Grambling State finished with two runs on four hits and stranded 10 on base
>
Richard Ortiz led the Tiger offense by going 2-for-3
> Phil Adams, Jr. and
Drexler Macaay collected one hit each
>
Kerry Boykins, Jr. (3-2) started on the bump and lasted 0.2 innings as he was tagged for five runs on four hits, walked one and struck out one in eight batters faced
>
D'Quan Matthews,
Grant Landry,
JC Bonilla and
Kaelin Woodard pitched in relief
> Stephen F. Austin finished with six runs on seven hits and left six on base
> Jarrod Huber led the 'Jacks at the plate by going 1-for-3, with three runs batted in
> Joseph Sgamberlluri (1-3) earned the win in 4.1 innings of work. He gave up one run on one hit, walked five and fanned five
> Seth Campbell, Austin Hearn and Jeremy Rodriguez worked in relief.
Up Next
Grambling State steps back into Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play this weekend with a three-game homestand against Prairie View A&M. The Tigers will play at 6 p.m. game at Wilbert Ellis Field at R.W.E. Jones Park on Friday, followed by a 5 p.m. contest on Saturday. The series will conclude with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
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