Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Another weekend, another complete game for one of Northwestern State's Oller brothers.
Josh Oller went the distance in Friday's second game of a Southland Conference doubleheader at Stephen F. Austin, helping the Demons earn a split of the twinbill with a 6-3 victory.
Oller's second complete game of the year came after SFA (7-17, 2-6) edged the Demons (12-10, 6-2), 5-3, in the opener.
"His command was as good as I've ever seen it," third-year coach
Lane Burroughs said. "His velocity was good. He was shoving it in the strike zone with multiple pitches. His breaking ball was really good. He was locked in. He pitches with an edge, and after losing Game 1, that really drives
Josh Oller."
In the nightcap, Northwestern State gave Oller (5-0) plenty of cushion with a four-run fourth inning that turned a one-run lead into a five-run advantage.
C.J. Webster,
Caleb Dugas and
Miller Parker drove in runs in the fourth and Dugas scored on wild pitch. It was the first RBI of Parker's career and came in his first career start.
Parker also led off the seventh inning with a triple and scored on
Joel Atkinson's RBI single.
"I'm very proud of
Miller Parker," Burroughs said. "He adds another dimension. He can run, and he's very athletic. Joel had a big RBI to drive him in after his triple."
Oller meanwhile kept the Lumberjacks under control until the ninth inning when SFA's Eric DeJesus drilled a two-out, two-run triple to make things interesting. Oller then retired Matthew Dickey to finish NSU's victory.
C.J. Webster paced the Demons' 13-hit attack, going 3-for-4 while Atkinson (2-for-5),
Cort Brinson (2-for-4),
Chase Daughdrill (2-for-4) and
Matthew Alford (2-for-4) all had multi-hit games.
In the first game, SFA jumped to a 2-0 advantage against
Adam Oller and used a tiebreaking two-run seventh inning to grab the victory.
Brinson cut the lead to 4-3 in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly, but the Demons were unable to draw any closer.
The series finale is tentatively scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday at Jaycees Field in Nacogdoches. With a forecast calling for a 90 percent chance of rain around Nacogdoches, the teams decided to move up their Saturday game and created Friday's doubleheader.
Should rain force a Saturday cancellation, the finale would move to 1 p.m. Sunday.
Stephen F. Austin 5-3, Northwestern State 3-6
Game 1
NSU 000 110 010 – 3 10 2
SFA 200 000 21x – 5 12 0W – Josh Keith (1-1). L –
Chase Hymel (0-1). S – Tyler Wiedenfield (5). 2B – NSU,
Joel Atkinson;
Cort Brinson;
Matthew Alford; SFA, Hunter Wilson; Nick Ramos. Highlights: NSU, Brinson 2-5;
Chase Daughdrill 2-4, RBI;
David Fry 3-4, RBI; SFA, Matthew Dickey 2-4; Hunter Wilson 4-4; Dan O'Neill 2-4, RBI; Kyle Thornell 2-3.
Game 2
NSU 001 400 100 – 6 13 2
SFA 000 001 002 – 3 8 0W –
Josh Oller (5-0). L – Dillon Mangham (1-4). 2B – NSU,
Caleb Dugas; SFA, Dan O'Neill. 3B – NSU,
Miller Parker; SFA, Eric DeJesus. Highlights: NSU, C.J. Webster 3-4, RBI;
Joel Atkinson 2-5, RBI;
Cort Brinson 2-4, RBI;
Chase Daughdrill 2-4;
Matthew Alford 2-4. SFA, DeJesus 2-4, 3B, 2 RBIs.
Records: Northwestern State 12-10, 6-2 Southland; Stephen F. Austin 7-17, 2-6.