Stephen F. Austin survived a late comeback attempt to hang on for a 9-7 Southland Conference baseball victory over Sam Houston Friday afternoon at Jaycees Field in Nacogdoches.

The victory upped the Lumberjacks' season record to 11-19. SFA stands 6-7 in Southland action and has won the first two contests in a three-game series that ends at 1 p.m. Saturday. Sam Houston falls to 14-19 for the year and 7-7 in conference.

Led by Garrett McMullen who went 5-for-5 at the plate, the Jacks outhit the Kats 16-10. Bryce Johnson went 2-for-4 for the SHSU men including a solo home run.

Sam Houston jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening inning on RBIs by Dylan Ebbs on a double to right center, Johnson on a single to center and Hayden Simerly on a triple down the right field line.

SFA bounced back with seven runs. Four came on five hits and an error in the second inning. Three more were added in the third inning. The Jacks extended their lead to 9-3 with a pair of tallies in the bottom of the sixth.

Sam Houston fought back to score three times in the seventh inning on a double by Ryan Brinley down the right field line, a single by Zach Smith and a run from Colt Atwood who scored on consecutive wild pitches. Johnson added the final run on a solo homer to left center.

Dillon Mangham was the winning pitcher for SFA, upping his season record to 2-5 by spreading five hits over seven innings. Patrick Ledet was credited with a save.

Logan Boyd took the loss for Sam Houston, dropping to 3-3 for the year after pitching two and two thirds innings. Alex Bisacca threw four and two-thirds innings while Hayden Nixon and Derrick Hadley also saw action in relief.