Stephen F. Austin lost to Incarnate Word in extra innings on May 8, after a dramatic late-game rally during the second game of a three-game Southland Conference series at Sullivan Field.
The game saw Stephen F. Austin trailing 4-0 through seven innings before scoring five runs in the eighth to briefly take a 5-4 lead. However, Incarnate Word responded with four runs in the bottom of the eighth and held an 8-5 advantage going into the ninth inning. The Jacks tied it again when Cermodrick Bland hit a three-run triple, but ultimately fell after UIW drew a bases-loaded walk in the twelfth inning.
Nine pitchers were used by Stephen F. Austin, including all three primary weekend starters. Cody Templeton started and allowed one earned run over two innings, while Dylan Mulcahy pitched two more frames and gave up two earned runs on one hit and two walks. Gabriel LeBlanc began pitching in the eighth but was replaced by Jack James after facing two batters; LeBlanc was charged with two earned runs.
Offensively, four of Stephen F. Austin’s five eighth-inning runs came with two outs as Juan Cantua doubled home two runners, Julian Swift singled for another run, and Mark Henning drove in another with his third hit of the game. Cooper Schneider contributed an RBI single earlier that inning.
Swift recorded his team-leading twenty-second multi-hit game this season while Bland notched his seventeenth such performance. Cantua extended his hitting streak to nine games; DeJesus pushed his own streak to seven games; Bland registered his fourth game this season with at least three RBIs; Henning has reached base safely in twenty-nine of his last thirty games and collected his third three-hit outing this spring.
The regular season will conclude Saturday at 2 p.m., where Stephen F. Austin will seek its sixth Southland Conference series win of the year.
