Texas Southern tops UAPB baseball team
A ninth-inning flurry made Friday’s series opener interesting, but the comeback effort from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff fell short.
The UAPB baseball team lost 9-6 to Texas Southern in the first game of a three-game series at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex in Pine Bluff.
Head coach Carlos James said the Golden Lions had good at-bats but had some bad luck.
“It’s just that at the times that we had runners in scoring position, we hit balls right at people,” James said. “It was just one of those baseball days, but they showed their fight, and I was proud about that.”
UAPB (13-20, 4-9 SWAC) trailed 9-1 entering the bottom of the ninth inning having not scored since the first. Designated hitter Carlos Rodriguez-Velez led off with a single, then pinch hitter Lawrence “Q” Noble walked.
Texas Southern (12-18, 8-3) reliever Brody Wilson retired the next two hitters, though the UAPB runners advanced into scoring position on a passed ball. Wilson then walked pinch hitter Brant Voth before inducing a ground ball from second baseman Malachi Jeffries which could have ended the game.
Instead, TSU shortstop CJ Castillo missed the ball as he tried to scoop it. The ball rolled into the outfield as Rodriguez-Velez and Noble scored.
Then, right fielder Jalyn Williams stepped to the plate and hit a 3-run home run to left field to cut the deficit to 9-6.
“It felt good off the bat,” Williams said. “I had a good feeling it was gone. I didn’t know if the wind would knock it down, but the wind was on my side today.”
Centerfielder Gavin Terry followed with a fly ball which was dropped in left field by substitute Chase Cromer. That brought catcher Edwin De La Cruz, the national leader in batting average, to the plate.
TSU swapped Wilson for Dade Hensley, and Hensley struck out De La Cruz on a full count to end the game with the potential tying run in the on-deck circle for his first save of the season.
James said he was proud of the Golden Lions for not giving up despite trailing 9-1.
“The guys kept passing the bat,” James said. “We pinch hit some guys. They got on base, and even at the end right there, we was getting one guy on from bringing the tying run to the plate on a day that’s windy. We did all that, basically, with two outs. So, I was proud of the way the guys fight, and that’s just us learning how to be consistent.”
TSU started left-handed Domenic Martinez (3-3) on the mound. He gave up six hits but held the Golden Lions to 1 run in a six-inning outing. He struck out four hitters and walked one. The Tigers threw another lefty, Joseph Villareal, in the seventh. He gave up a hit but nothing else.
Both sides scored a run in the first inning. TSU retook the lead in the top of the third on an RBI double by left-fielder Nin Burns II, which scored designated hitter Jason Lazo. TSU built its lead from there, scoring 1 run each in the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings with a 3-run seventh.
UAPB starter Jacob Ehling (3-5) lasted 6 2/3 innings. He gave up 7 runs on 12 hits. He struck out two hitters and walked three. Ben VanMaanen pitched the remainder of the game after getting UAPB out of the seventh with a pop up.
With this loss, the Golden Lions are 1-8 in the opening game of a weekend series this season, with the lone win coming against non-NCAA foe Arkansas Baptist. Despite this, UAPB has won four weekend series, including the past two.
James said the series-opening struggles come down to playing mature baseball.
“When we were down and some things was going against us, we were quiet and trying to overcoach each other instead of keeping that positive energy going,” James said. “I thought at the end, that part changed when we got a couple of guys on. Even though we were down, they kinda kept going, ‘Hey, pass the bat. Pass the bat.’ When you get good energy, it kind of bleeds on to everybody else, and that’s what happened at the end.”
The second game of the series is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday.