April 9, 2008

Box Score

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Kai Kirby delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning and Richard Folmer struck out the side in the ninth as SFA rallied to take an 8-6 win over UNLV on Wednesday at Jaycees Field.

SFA (14-17, 3-8 SLC) trailed until the bottom of the seventh before knotting the score at six apiece and getting another pair of runs in the eighth to take the lead. UNLV (14-16, 5-4 MWC) stranded 13 runners on base against five Lumberjack pitchers.

Kevin Crabtree reached base all five times he came to the plate, with three hits and a pair of walks. Kirby also had a pair of hits, both singles, and reached base three times on the afternoon.

Jeremy Tamez picked up his second win of the season by tossing a scoreless eighth inning, leaving the go-ahead runners stranded on second and third when he dropped in a knee-buckling curve ball that left the Rebels' Rance Roundy looking at strike three for the inning's final out. Folmer then walked Michael Brenly in the ninth before striking out the next three hitters he faced for the save.

The teams traded runs in the first with Ryan Thornton getting the first of his game-high three RBI on a single off of `Jacks starter Kevin Thomas, but Crabtree doubled in leadoff man Gabriel Garcia-Serrano with one out to even things back up.

The situation was eerily similar again in the third as Thornton again singled in a run, this time with a well-placed bunt toward third base that scored J.J. Sferra. This time it was Justin Roland, though, that brought the `Jacks back with an RBI single that gave him at least one RBI in each of SFA's last six games.

Thomas then gave up four consecutive hits to open up the fifth inning with, three runs coming across in the frame; however, Alex Moshier entered in relief and finished off the inning without allowing another run. Overall, Moshier went 2 2/3 innings of relief and only allowed a single run.

That run, though, gave UNLV a 6-4 lead in the middle of the seventh on an RBI single from Sferra. Matt Whatley, though, delivered the big blow for the `Jacks in the bottom half of the inning with a game-tying double with the bases loaded that scored Crabtree and Sean Meyers.

With the score tied at six going to the eighth it was Kirby that delivered the eventual game-winner, landing a 2-2 pitch in front of Xavier Scruggs in left field to score Noel Trevino with two outs. Crabtree followed with an RBI single that scored Kirby for the game's final margin.

The `Jacks have won three of their last four games and will try and stay hot this weekend as they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday and Sunday's games can be heard live on the radio. Check www.sfajacks.com for more information.

-SFA-