Left-handed pitcher Calvin McClendon went the distance despite a weather delay Saturday, but his efforts weren’t enough for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
The UAPB baseball team lost 5-2 to Grambling State at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex.
The game, originally scheduled for Friday, was meant to be the first of a three-game series, but the rest of the series has been canceled due to weather. Soon after the game ended, heavy rain arrived and rendered the field unplayable.
McClendon (1-8) pitched all nine innings. He allowed 5 earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts and four walks.
UAPB (14-31, 5-17 SWAC) coach Carlos James said McClendon kept UAPB in the game until the end.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“He was the man,” James said. “Anytime a guy can get on the mound and throw nine complete innings of baseball and give you a chance to win, I mean, my hat’s off to him. I thought he threw a great ballgame.”
McClendon made it through the game despite a 35-minute lightning delay in the top of the third inning. UAPB took a 1-0 lead into the delay after designated hitter Carlos Rodriguez-Velez scored in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly from left fielder Brandon Simon.
The delay was called after Grambling (19-23, 16-6) catcher Chris Marcellus led off with a single, the Tigers’ first hit of the game. After the delay, GSU drew two walks to load the bases for second baseman Kyle Walker, who delivered a 2-RBI single to give the Tigers the lead. GSU reloaded the bases for third baseman Cameron Bufford, who hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
The inning finally ended after UAPB catcher Brant Voth caught a runner stealing, then McClendon induced a groundball for the third out.
James said normally, he wouldn’t have sent McClendon back to the mound after the delay.
“We got a lot of guys that’s out with the stomach bug, sick and things like that,” James said. “We had no choice. Typically, once they come and sit for 30 minutes, they’re pretty much done, but credit to him. Being the warrior he is, he wanted to go back out there and try to give his team a chance to win, and he did.”
McClendon bounced back, retiring the Tigers in order in the next inning. He went on to retire nine-straight hitters between the sixth and eighth innings.
UAPB closed the gap in the fifth when second baseman Malachi Jeffries led off with a single and later scored on a wild pitch, but GSU responded in the next half inning when Bufford led off with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly from designated hitter Julian Murphy.
The 4-2 GSU lead held until the top of the ninth. The Tigers loaded the bases with one out, then centerfielder Martavious Thomas hit the Tigers’ third sacrifice fly of the game.
McClendon ended the inning with a strikeout. Jeffries walked with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but GSU shortstop Jose Vargas turned a double play to end the game.
Rodriguez-Velez led the UAPB offense, hitting 3 for 4 with a run. Walker led GSU, hitting 1 for 4 with 2 RBIs.
Mason Martinez (9-2) gave GSU a five-inning start. He allowed 2 runs on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Javier Martinez took over in the sixth and pitched four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks with three strikeouts.
With the rest of the series canceled, UAPB turns its attention to next week’s final home games against Southern. The Golden Lions have lost 12 of their past 13 games but won two of three at Southern last month.
James said he wants his players to play with pride.
“Just play hard the rest of the way,” James said. “Like I told them during the rain delay, it’s all about representing UAPB in the best of their abilities from this point on. It ain’t the season they wanted to have, no, but at the end of the day, you owe it to the people that came before you. You owe it to the university. You owe it to yourself to go out and play the game the right way.”