NATCHITOCHES, LA. – The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (10-43, 5-22) dropped the first of two games to the host Northwestern State Demons (21-31, 11-13) as the Demons won a thrilling Friday night game 14-11, that saw a combined 25 runs scored between the two schools.
The Lumberjacks wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in this one as following a Cole Hill leadoff walk, Colton Griffin would slice a double into right field to score Hill and give SFA an early 1-0 lead. Following a Cal Martin single to put runners on the corners for SFA, Tom Biggs would lay down an excellent sacrifice bunt to score Griffin and give SFA a 2-0 lead. Northwestern State responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the first and the score stood 2-1 in SFA’s favor after one full inning.
The second inning saw the Lumberjack offense stay hot as after three walks issued to Dylan Bourgeois, Nolan Brown, and Colton Griffin, Cal Martin would smoke a bases-clearing double down the left field line to launch SFA ahead 5-1. Tom Biggs would pick up his second RBI of the game one batter later as he would single through the right side to bring in Martin and extend the SFA lead to 6-1. The Demons would have a response in the bottom of the second and third innings as they would plate a pair of runs in both innings to cut the SFA lead to 6-5 after three full innings.
The fourth inning opened the scoring floodgates for both sides as the two schools combined for 12 runs in the fourth inning. SFA would load the bases to open up the fourth thanks to a single from Nolan Brown, a walk from Cole Hill, and Colton Griffin reaching on an error. Cal Martin would step in and record his fourth RBI of the contest with an RBI groundout to score Brown and give SFA a 7-5 lead. Tom Biggs would continue to pile on the RBIs as he would send another rocket through the right side of the infield to score both Griffin and Hill and extend the SFA lead to 9-5. However, the Demons would respond with a big inning of their own as they would score nine runs in the bottom half of the fourth to claim a 14-9 lead after four full innings.
The Lumberjacks would not go down without a fight as in the top of the sixth they would add a pair of runs to cut the Northwestern State lead down to just three. Colton Griffin would leadoff the sixth with a single, and would later score as Tom Biggs would record his fourth straight at-bat with an RBI thanks to an RBI double to left center to make the score 14-10 Northwestern State. Cody Fleischer would reach on an error, allowing Brock Knoerr to reach on a fielder’s choice, which scored Biggs in the process to make the score 14-11 in favor of the Demons. Unfortunately for SFA, that would close out the scoring for this one as the Demons would hang on for a thrilling 14-11 win over the ‘Jacks.
Tom Biggs and Cal Martin formed a dynamic hitting duo hitting in the third and cleanup spots for SFA today as the two sluggers combined for nine RBIs in this one. Cal Martin (2-5, R, 2B, 4 RBI) tied his season-high mark in RBIs tonight as he recorded his second four-RBI game of the season and picked up his fourth double of the season in the process. Meanwhile, Tom Biggs (3-3, R, 2B, BB, 5 RBI) couldn’t be kept off the bases as he reached in all four of his at-bats and recorded his second-highest RBI total as a Lumberjack with a whopping five driven in to record the highest RBI total in a single game for a Lumberjack this season, and recorded his seventh double of the season as part of his three-hit night. Meanwhile, freshman Colton Griffin (2-3, RBI, 2B, 4 R) continues to show off his speed as he recorded his second four-run game this season, as he has now tied Cole Hill for the team lead in runs scored with 37 this season.
Dylan Mulcahy (1-2) took the loss tonight for SFA while Dawson Flowers (4-4) secured the win for Northwestern State and Caleb Bunch recorded his fourth save of the season for Northwestern State. Conner Woods tossed 3.1 scoreless innings for SFA out of the ‘pen as he allowed just two base runners in those innings and punched out four batters.
The Lumberjacks will be back in action tomorrow, May 18th for their regular season finale as they close out their season with one final game against the Demons. First pitch for tomorrow’s game is set for 1:00 p.m. CST. You can watch all the action on ESPN+ as well as follow along with all the action on social media or with live stats through the SFA Athletics website.
By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications