March 28, 2008

Box Score

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - SFA pounded out 11 hits against Northwestern State on Friday, but eight unearned runs by the Demons offense proved to be the difference as the Demons held on for a 12-10 win at Jaycees Field.

The Demons (14-10, 6-1) used a nine-run third inning to remain in first place in the SLC East while SFA (11-12, 1-6) sits in sixth place in the SLC West through seven games.

Kevin Thomas took the loss for SFA, allowing five runs in only two innings without a strikeout to go to 2-3 on the year. Jimmy Heard went 5.1 innings to pick up his fourth win of the year.

Northwestern State took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Justin O'Neal; however, Adam Bosley was there to put the `Jacks briefly ahead in the second inning with his first home run of the year, a two-run shot that cleared the scoreboard in right-center field.

The lead did not last long, though, as the Demons used six hits and a pair of Lumberjack errors to push across nine runs against the pitching combination of Thomas and Alex Moshier. Five of the runs were unearned in the frame, with four of those runs coming with two outs.

Donnie Watson then turned to his bullpen, with the combination of Kyle Watson and Jeremy Tamez only allowing two runs - both unearned - in the final 6.1 innings of play.

After Northwestern State had plated another pair of runs in the top half of the sixth to move ahead 12-2, SFA started a rally of its own to claw back into the game. Gabriel Garcia-Serrano led off with a walk and moved to third after a wild pitch and a fly out by Kevin Croft. Two batters later Sean Meyers connected with an RBI double to get the `Jacks back on the board before Zach Gardner and Kai Kirby responded with RBI singles of their own to make the score 12-5.

Another two batters later Kevin Crabtree ripped a single to left field to score another run and drove the second Demons pitcher of the day from the game. Beau Snodgrass then came into face Garcia-Serrano with the bases juiced, and got a surprise on the very first pitch. Kirby was the one that gave the crowd a reason to cheer, getting a walking lead off of Snodgrass then racing to home, beating the tag from Adam Jones to plate another run.

Adam Bosley then singled in another pair of runs two batters later to give him four RBI on the day and make it 12-10, but pinch hitter Jeffrey Kello struck out swinging to quell the rally.

Kyle Broughton then went the rest of the way for the Demons, picking up his second save of the year by going 3.1 innings without allowing a run.

The `Jacks and Demons continue the series on at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday with Lance Luetge scheduled to throw for SFA against Heath Hennigan for Northwestern State. The game can be heard live on KSFA 860AM. -SFA-