Today was a big day for the SFA athletic program, thanks in part to the Lumberjack baseball team.

Coming off a loss yesterday to Nicholls State, the SFA baseball team rebounded with a 7-2 win over the Colonels. The ‘Jacks racked up 14 hits and was lead by Chris Hernandez notching 3 RBI. Fres

hman pitcher Cameron Gann picked up his team leading 6th victory of the season.

But more importantly, with the win and Northwestern State, Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi all losing, the Lumberjacks officially clinched a spot in the conference tournament. A SFA loss tomorrow, and if NWST and Corpus both win then there would be a 3-way tie for the last two spots. SFA owns the tiebreaker over Corpus, NWST owns the tiebreaker over SFA, and Corpus owns the tiebreaker over NWST. The next tiebreaker after head-to-head match-ups is the records against other SLC teams. Looking at the records against the #1 team first. SFA and Corpus both took one game from Sam Houston while NWST was s

wept, eliminating the Demons from contention. A SFA win tomorrow combined with a UCA loss gives the ‘Jacks the #6 seed, as they own the tiebreaker over UCA.

But the Southland Conference tournament wasn’t the only thing on the line this weekend. The race for the Commis

sioner’s Cup (overall athletic standings) was tight with SFA holding a slight lead.

SFA: 139

UTSA: 137.5
Texas State: 130.5
Lamar: 125

UTSA was eliminated as they will only receive one point for baseball. And Texas State has too much room to make up. SFA can finish no lower than 7th in the standings giving them 6 points. The highest Texas State can finish is 3rd, giving them 10 points, making the closest possible standings:

SFA: 145
Texas State: 140.5
UTSA: 138.5

Congrats to the entire athletic department on a outstanding year!!!

Axe’em Jacks!

For the fourth consecutive year, the SFA women’s track team has won the Outdoor Track championship.

And it didn’t come easy.

With just three events remaining, the Ladyjacks found themselves trailing UTSA 128-115. They cut that deficit to two, after Lauren Smith and Randi Plentl provided 15 points from the 5,000-meter run. Following a first-place finish in the 4×400 relay, a pair of points in the pole vault moved them ahead of UTSA 142-139.5, and clinched the conference crown.

The SFA Men had a strong performance as well, finishing 3rd.

With the 1st and 3rd place finishes, that moves SFA to first in the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Cup standings. By my calculations, here are the current point totals:

SFA: 139
UTSA: 137.5
Texas State: 130.5
Lamar: 125

UTSA cannot pass SFA in BA, so they are out. Then there is too much room for Texas State to make up. They would have to finish 2nd and have SFA finish 2nd to last. But, that is impossible, in order for them to finish 2nd they have to sweep NWST (not to mention have SELA lose twice at home to McNeese), and if NWST gets swept then they will fall behind SFA, even if SFA get’s swept by Nicholls. Final BA standings at the worst could only be Texas State in 2nd and SFA in 3rd to last. Totaling up those points would add 3 to SFA equaling 142…then 11 pts to Texas State equaling 141.5.  Thus, giving Stephen F. Austin the Commissioner’s Cup!

Axe’em!

With the season quickly coming to an end, the SFA  baseball team got a much needed series win over Central  Arkansas this past weekend in Nacogdoches.

Hunter Dozier went 3 for 5 on Friday, including a pair of  doubles that set a single-season SFA record, and helped  propel the ‘Jacks to a 4-2 victory. Chase Greening picked up his 5th win of the season, and with the help of the SFA bullpen, shut down the Bears in the final 7 innings to preserve the win.

Saturday was a day to forget for the Lumberjacks. UCA exploded for 9 runs in the second inning and went on to a 14-1 run-rule victory. Cameron Gann took the loss dropping him to 5-3 on the year. Bryce Cummings provided an RBI single, to give the ‘Jacks their lone run of the day.

The ‘Jacks and Bears squared off in the rubber match on Sunday, with heavy tournament implications on the line. SFA took a quick 1-0 lead on a Bobby Loveless single in the first, but was quickly erased with 2 UCA runs the following inning. The game went back and forth the entire day, and saw UCA jump out to a 5-2 lead. But the Lumberjacks were able to rally, thanks to a pair of 2-run home runs from Loveless and Max Lamantia. Loveless blasted a two-run shot in the 7th to break a 7-7 tie, which was plenty of room for closer Alex Moshier to shut the door on the Bears and seal the series win for the Lumberjacks.

SFA moves to 21-30 on the season, but more importantly, keeps the ‘Jacks in hunt for the Conference tournament. Sitting at 14-16, there is only one weekend series remaining before the SLC tournament, and are tied for 7th in the standings. The top 8 teams in conference will advance to the tournament in San Marcos, so the final three games are crucial for SFA. The ‘Jacks will look to strengthen their spot in the standings as they host Nicholls State (25-25, 12-17) in the regular season finale. Make sure you come out to Jaycees Field to support the Lumberjacks and help them advance to post-season play!

Axe’em!

The Ladyjacks (23-5) had a season for the ages. Winning their first ever Southland Conference championship and advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. But that season came to an end this weekend in Waco as the ‘Jacks fell 4-0 to #25 Tulsa.

SFA fell behind early losing only their second doubles point of the season. And despite a solid performance in singles play, they were unable to continue their historic season.

“I’m proud of my team and our effort today and all season long,” Sullivan said. “We have a lot to be proud of and a lot to build on. Soon enough SFA will be the tough veteran team on the other end of this match.” (Credit SFA Athletics)

For the sixth consecutive year, the Lumberjacks have won the  season series against UT-Arlington (27-17, 14-10 SLC), thanks  to a solid overall performance from the SFA pitching staff.

The Mavericks took Game one 4-2 Friday, behind 8.2 IP from  Lance Day and only allowing 2 SFA runs on the day. Despite a  nice outing from Chase Greening (7 IP, 12 H, 3R), a late  Lumberjack rally in the 9th fell short.

Cameron Gann tossed 6 shutout innings on Saturday, and  ‘Jacks were able to scratch out 3 runs and taking 3-0 victory to even the series. Chris Hernandez lead the charge from the plate, knotting 3 singles on the day, while Rene’ Moreda, Freddy Vilallobos and Ricardo Sanchez each added two hits apiece. But the story of the day was from the SFA bullpen. Gann struck out 5 UTA batters, and found his 5th win of the season, the most wins by a Lumberjack freshman since 2006. The SFA bullpen did their part in relief with three scoreless innings from Justin Choate and closer Alex Mosier.

The SFA crowd at Jaycees Field saw another fine performance from the Lumberjack pitching staff on Sunday, shutting down the Mavs for a 3-1 win. Colton Eubanks surrendered only one run in 6 innings of work, before giving way to Cory Ochs and Alex Moshier. The ‘Jacks fell behind 1-0, before a single from Chris Hernandez scored Freddy Villalobos in the fourth. Bobby Loveless put the Lumberjacks ahead with a sac-fly in the 6th, which was all that was needed for Eubanks and company.

The ‘Jacks are now 18-26 on the season and 11-13 in Southland Conference play. SFA has the week off before traveling to Hammond, Louisiana for a big 3-game series with Southeastern Louisiana.

Axe’em!

The #46th ranked Women’s Tennis team defeated Texas-Arlington 4-0 on Saturday, to win the Southland Conference tournament championship and earned the programs first ever automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.

“It’s a really exciting moment for all of us,” said 2012 SLC Coach of the Year Patrick Sullivan. “To know that these girls can come back years from now remembered as the first team to go to the NCAA Championships is a great accomplishment.”

Freshmen Tereza Bekerova and Malena Gordo started the day off with an easy 8-0 victory in doubles play, and then All-Southland Conference team of freshman Elena Kordolaimi and sophomore Laura Servise won the 3rd doubles match.

Jithmie Jayawickrema and Tereza Bekerova followed with singles points to give SFA the 3-0 lead before Malena Gordo closed the door, and gave the Lumberjacks their first every SLC tournament championship.

“UTA is a good team, and they are a team that we respect,” said Sullivan. “They play the game the right way. Today’s match was not a revenge sort of thing. We’re a proud team. We have a lot of girls that just love SFA, and they were embarrassed by that 4-0 loss. It wasn’t a matter of revenge, but a matter of showing the real SFA team and we did that today.”

The NCAA Tennis Championship Show will air on Tuesday at 4 p.m. on NCAA.com, so stay tuned to LumberjackFans.com to see who the Lumberjacks will face off against in the NCAA tournament!

Ax’em!

(quotes credited to SFA Athletics)

The SFA baseball team got a much needed series win this past weekend, taking two of three from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Game one of the series was delayed until Saturday, where the ‘Jacks got a solid performance from RHP Chase Grenning to help stop a 4 game losing skid and defeating the Islanders 4-2. Freddy Villalobos lead the Lumberjacks from the plate driving in two, while Bryce Cummings and Chris Hernandez both contributed with multi-hit games. Greening has now won 4 in a row.

Cameron Gann took the mound in Game two of the double header on Saturday, and despite only getting 4 hits in support, Gann and the Lumberjacks picked up a 2-1 victory. Gann struck out a career best eight batters in his 6 innings of work, and Jarid Scarafiotti and Hunter Dozier both provided RBI doubles. Alex Moshier came in to pitch the 9th and closed the door to pick up his 5 save of the season, and his second of the day.

The Lumberjacks were kept off balance on Sunday, and the Islanders were able to avoid the sweep with a 6-1 win. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi pitcher Daniel Minor pitched a complete game, while Colton Eubanks got the loss for the ‘Jacks, dropping him to 3-5 on the season. Bobby Loveless lead the day for the Lumberjacks, providing 3 of their 8 hits, while Hunter Dozier drove in the lone SFA run.

The Lumberjacks are now 16-24 on the season, and more importantly 9-12 in the Southland Conference. With only 4 weekends remaining in conference play, the ‘Jacks are fighting to secure a bid to the SLC tournament in San Marcos. For the second week in a row, SFA will travel to Arkansas for a mid-week matchup against Arkansas-Pine Bluff before returning home to host UT-Arlington in a 3-game series.

And don’t forget, orders for LumberjackFans.com t-shirts are now being taken. So please order a shirt to support the site and your Lumberjacks!

Axe’em!

The 41st ranked SFA tennis team dominated Texas  State 7-0 Saturday in San Marcos, to lock up the  SLC conference title.

The shutout victory was number 20 on the season, but the conference title was the first in the programs  history.

“The two schools split the first two doubles matches, but SFA secured the doubles point when junior Jithmie Jayawickrema and senior Alina Shazhko posted an 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles. Freshman Tereza Bekerova followed suit with a 6-4, 6-1 decision over Texas State’s Rachel Baldree at No. 3 singles. Bekerova’s win was one of five consecutive straight-set wins for the ‘Jacks in singles play. Shazhko was the only player who was pushed to a third set before picking up the win.” (credit SFA Atheltics)

The ‘Jacks will look to complete a perfect season when they face UTA, before starting the conference tournament as the overall number 1 seed.

Axe’em!

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The ‘Jacks traveled to Ruston, La. to face Louisiana Tech on Tuesday, looking for a much needed win. But 8 unanswered runs from the Bulldogs was too much for Lumberjacks, falling 9-5.

SFA got out to an early 3-1 lead thanks to double from Jarid Scarafiotti in the 1st. Hunter Dozier led the team with 3 hits on the day, and even got in an inning of relief pitching striking out 2 batters. But Tech racked up 11 hits, and eventually built a 9-3. The ‘Jacks got a pair back in the 8th, but went quietly in the 9th to end the game.

The Lumberjacks are now 13-19 on the season and have dropped 5 of the last 7. SFA will take on McNeese State this weekend in Nacogdoches. First pitch on Friday is at 3:00 from Jaycees Field.

Ax’em!