North Little Rock will host an in-state baseball showdown tonight as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff plays its lone game against a Power Five opponent this season.
UAPB will face the University of Arkansas at 6 p.m. at Dickey-Stephens Park, home of the Arkansas Travelers.
UAPB (13-26) is limping into this game on a seven-game losing streak after being swept in its past two weekend series by Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern.
Senior right-handed pitcher Jordan Jones (0-2, 5.93 ERA) will make his second start of the season for UAPB. He previously started on April 2 at home in a 14-4 loss to Jackson State. Jones is the brother of Arkansas sophomore Jayson Jones, who has appeared in 14 games for the Razorbacks this season as a utility player.
No. 2 Arkansas (34-6) has won four of its past five games. The Razorbacks won two of three games at No. 20 South Carolina over the weekend after sweeping a two-game midweek series at home against Texas Tech.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Left-hander Colin Fisher (6-1, 2.67) has been Arkansas’ typical midweek starter, though right-hander Ben Bybee (2-0, 6.10) has also made three midweek starts. The Razorbacks have typically used midweek games against in-state opponents as bullpen games this season, with no UA starter going past the third inning.
UAPB boasts one of the nation’s leading hitters, catcher/infielder Edwin De La Cruz. The senior is hitting .444 against Division I opposition this season, second only to Georgia sophomore Charlie Condon.
Arkansas’ leading hitter is Peyton Holt with a .346 average. Fellow infielder Ben McLaughlin leads the team in RBIs with 30.
The Hogs are 9-0 in midweek games and are 27-1 in Arkansas this season. They have already defeated each of the other in-state Division I teams. Arkansas beat Central Arkansas 9-7 on March 5, UA-Little Rock 11-0 in seven innings on March 26, and Arkansas State 13-0 in seven innings on April 2. All three games were in Fayetteville.
UAPB is 2-6 in midweek games but 0-6 against Division I opponents. The Golden Lions lost 10-0 at Arkansas State on Feb. 20, 3-2 at home against Little Rock on March 6, and 7-4 at home against A-State on March 26.
This will be the sixth meeting between the Golden Lions and Razorbacks since Arkansas ended its ban on playing in-state opponents. Every game has been played in April. This will be the teams’ first meeting outside Fayetteville, though it is still considered an Arkansas home game. The Hogs are 5-0 against UAPB with four seven-inning run-rule victories.
This will be UAPB’s second-to-last midweek game of the season. The Golden Lions travel to Memphis next Tuesday.