BIG INNING DOOMS HBU IN 7-4 LOSS TO LUMBERJACKS

Schiefen strikes out eight in six innings of work

Zac Schiefen

HOUSTON – The HBU baseball team took a 4-2 lead through six innings before a five-run seventh propelled Stephen F. Austin past the Huskies, 7-4, on Tuesday afternoon at Husky Field.

The Huskies got on the board in the bottom half of the second with Johnathon Moore stroking a 3-2 fastball to right-center for a double followed by a walk and then a fielder’s choice with a throwing error by the SFA third baseman allowing Moore to cross the plate.  SFA tied the game in the fourth inning with a walk and a triple.

The Lumberjacks took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning with one run on two hits.  HBU answered in the bottom half of the frame, taking advantage of a walk, a single, a hit batter and a wild pitch to make it a 2-2 game.  In the sixth, the Huskies got a pair of walks and a bunt single to load the bases with two outs.  Freshman Travis Fuquay came up with the timely hit, lining a single to center and scoring two.

HBU’s 4-2 lead was short-lived as SFA took advantage of walks, a hit batter, a Husky error and a pair of hits to score five runs and make the score 7-4.  HBU went hitless over the final three innings.

Fuquay finished the game as the only Husky with multiple hits, going 2-5 at the plate with two runs batted in.  Moore was 1-4 and Derek Smith was 1-3, accounting for the rest of the HBU hits.

On the mound, Zac Schiefen suffered the loss after giving up five runs, four of them unearned, over six innings.  The senior southpaw struck out eight while walking three and giving up four Lumberjack hits.  Schiefen falls to 0-4 on the year.

HBU stranded eight runners while Stephen F. Austin left four runners on base.  The Huskies fall to 1-14 on the year while SFA improve to 4-12.

The Huskies and Lumberjacks will face off again tomorrow, March 18, at Jaycees Field in Nacogdoches at 3:00 pm.