Three errors and three home runs across the first three innings Friday afternoon put the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in a big hole early against an in-state foe.
The UAPB baseball team lost its series opener against Arkansas State 9-2 at Tomlinson Stadium in Jonesboro.
A-State (4-9) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the first two innings. Right fielder Cross Jumper hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. A leadoff throwing error in the bottom of the second started a 5-run inning which featured a 3-run home run from third baseman Daedrick Cail.
UAPB (0-13), which loaded the bases in the top of the first inning but failed to score, settled in defensively after the second inning, though A-State left fielder Jake Henry Williams hit a solo homer with two outs in the third.
Right-handed starter Kenney Fabian (0-4) pitched back-to-back scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth. He exited the game with one out in the sixth with a runner at third base, who eventually scored on an RBI double by Jumper.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Fabian allowed 4 earned runs on nine hits with one walk and one strikeout, but the errors allowed 5 unearned runs to score. Left-handed reliever Major Spence held the Red Wolves to one hit and one walk across the final 2.2 innings.
The Golden Lions committed one error across the final seven innings after committing three in the first two.
UAPB had a couple of good defensive plays despite the errors. Catcher Vinny Saumell turned a 5-2 double play to end the first inning by tagging out a runner in a rundown between home and third base, then tagging out another runner who tried advancing to third. He later tagged out a runner at home in the second inning after a throw from second baseman Jesus Riera.
A-State starter Collin Maloney (1-2) did not allow an earned run in an eight-inning outing. He gave up 2 unearned runs in the fifth after UAPB shortstop Collin McLemore scored on a two-out error, the only A-State error of the game. Left fielder Carlos Rodriguez-Velez later scored while Saumell, a former Red Wolf, drew his former teammates’ attention in a run-down between first and second base.
UAPB first baseman Brant Voth had two of UAPB’s four hits. Jumper and Cail led the Red Wolves with 4 RBI apiece. Jumper finished the game a triple short of the cycle.
The Golden Lions and Red Wolves will resume their three-game series on Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.