Thomas awarded Most Outstanding Performer
NEW ORLEANS — Erick Thomas, of the Arkansas-Pine Bluff men’s track and field team, scored 24 points to win the SWAC’s Most Outstanding Performer honors on Sunday at the SWAC Championships.
Thomas finished in second place in the discus and the javelin, fourth place in the hammer throw and sixth in the shot put.
Grambling State won the championship for the fourth straight year with 149.5 points and UAPB finished in eighth with 48.
For the UAPB women, Ninfa Barnard won the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 12.82 seconds. Alabama State won its third straight women’s title with 243 and UAPB finished in seventh place with 34.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Southern pounds out 13 runs against UAPB
BATON ROUGE, La. — Southern pounded out 13 runs on 17 hits to beat the Arkansas-Pine Bluff baseball team 13-4 in the Golden Lions’ final SWAC game of the year.
Southern (30-14, 16-7 SWAC) scored three runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings for a 12-4 lead. UAPB (8-37-1, 6-18) had a 1-0 lead after the top of the first.
Vince Newton took the loss as he gave up 12 runs — nine earned – and 15 hits in six innings. Sean Samsa was 2 for 3 with an RBI and run scored.
Braves blew five-run lead, still get win
LITTLE ROCK — The Pine Bluff Braves semi-pro baseball team had a 5-0 lead before the Little Rock Pirates came back to tie the game.
But the Braves scored three runs in the top of the seventh to defeat the Pirates 8-5 in Little Rock on Sunday.
Corey McCoy helped get the Braves off to the fast start with a solo home run on the third pitch of the game.
Pine Bluff got out to a 5-0 lead when the Pirates scored two runs in the fourth and three in the sixth to tie the game. But McCoy scored on a groundout to short by Deonta Howard, who later scored on Chretien Matz’s RBI hit. Chris Weast got his third RBI of the game to drive in Matz to cap the three-run seventh.
ESPN sets times for ASU football games
JONESBORO — The kickoff times for the Arkansas State football games that will be televised on the ESPN network of channels have been announced.
The first game, against Florida International on Oct. 4, is on ESPN with a kickoff time of 6:30 p.m. The Red Wolves game at Louisiana-Lafayette will be at 7 p.m. on Oct. 23 on ESPN2. The home game against Louisiana-Monroe will be broadcast by ESPNU at 6 p.m. on Nov. 8.