April 18, 2008

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - After an extended midweek break, a rested Lumberjack baseball team opens up a three-game series with the conference-leading UTSA Roadrunners on Friday at 6:00 p.m.

Friday's game can be heard live on Q107.7 FM, while Saturday and Sunday's games can be heard on KSFA 860 AM or at www.ksfa860.com.

The `Jacks are riding a four-game skid, the longest of the year, after being swept by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi over the weekend and falling to No. 19 Houston in Nacogdoches on Tuesday.

SFA took two of three games against the Roadrunners last season, handing them two of just their six conference losses on the year; however, UTSA got even with a 4-2 win in the first round of the SLC Tournament. Last year's regular season battles were all one-run affairs, with the final game seeing Lance Luetge nearly go the distance with a 8 1/3 inning outing that resulted in a 1-0 SFA win.

Donnie Watson has reinserted Erich Lehmann into the starting rotation for this weekend's series, sandwiching him in between Erik Gregersen and Luetge to form an experienced trio of starters.

Kevin Crabtree continues to pace the offensive attack, hitting .362 with five home runs and 30 RBI on the year. More importantly, he has been hot as of late hitting .436 with an .872 slugging percentage over his last 10 games. He has gotten a hit in nine of those 10 games as well.

The Roadrunners come in as one of the top offensive clubs in the SLC, led by two-time SLC Player of the Week Trent Lockwood. Last year's SLC Newcomer of the Year, Lockwood has already slammed nine home runs and driven in 47 to lead a lineup that is hitting .319 on the season. Michael Rockett and Tim Paliscar are also legitimate threats at the plate and are two of six Roadrunners that will carry a batting average of over .320 into Friday's opener.

Projected pitching matchups vs. UTSA:

Friday

SFA: Erik Gregersen (RHP) 0-1, 6.92 ERA, 39.0 IP, 40K, 22BB

UTSA: Steven Vasquez (RHP) 6-2, 3.96 ERA, 52.1 IP, 50K, 13BB

Saturday

SFA: Erich Lehmann (RHP) 1-4, 5.40 ERA, 51.2 IP, 46K, 13BB

UTSA: Bradley Chovanec (RHP) 6-2, 4.11 ERA, 61.1 IP, 38K, 10BB

Sunday

SFA: Lance Luetge (LHP) 4-5, 4.50 ERA, 52.0 IP, 23K, 26BB

UTSA: Kris Ruepke (LHP) 3-2, 6.43 ERA, 35.0 IP, 18K, 19BB

-SFA-