The first year of the Logan Stout era at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff produced one of the school’s best baseball seasons in years, but that was just the appetizer.
After having to scramble to put a roster together for 2025, Stout has had a full recruiting cycle to build the 2026 team, which he said should be the best team he has ever coached.
“We’ve got guys that were junior college All-Americans,” Stout said. “When you have guys that have played, and played extremely well against great competition, that’s something we didn’t have last year. What’s interesting, even our returners who have come back to the yard to watch our guys, … they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, Coach, these guys are unbelievable.'”
UAPB finished fourth in the SWAC last season after going 16-9 in conference play, sending the Golden Lions to the SWAC tournament for the first time in six years.
Since then, Stout said he has brought in 31 new players, including 15 junior college transfers which made up the sixth-ranked junior college recruiting class in the nation per The JBB.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
First baseman Easton Andrews from Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla., hit .405 last season and hit 14 home runs. Third baseman Ian Smith from the University of Arkansas-Rich Mountain hit .402 with 10 home runs. Stout said Smith will miss the first couple of weeks of the season with an injury.
Pellissippi State (Knoxville, Tenn.) Community College transfer Zach Wieder, who also punts for the UAPB football team, will play shortstop after hitting .364 last season with 60 RBI. Amarillo (Texas) College outfielder Zyon Hamilton hit .355 with 44 RBI last season. Stout said he hit three home runs in UAPB’s intrasquad scrimmages last week.
Stout said he loves junior college players, because it humbles players who have been spoiled by terrific modern baseball facilities in high school.
“I think you go from being a boy to a man when you go to junior college,” Stout said. “You’re not catered to. You’re not spoiled. You’re getting a sack lunch, getting on a bus with 14 guys, driving five hours, play a double header, get back in the van, and get home at 3 o’clock in the morning, you hadn’t showered. You grow up a little bit.”
On the mound, Wiley College transfer Jalen Porter has been the headlining addition. D1Baseball named Porter the top MLB Draft prospect from the SWAC this year, and Stout said he could be a top-50 overall pick.
Porter, a righthander, hit 99 mph during a fall scrimmage against UA Rich Mountain in front of high-level MLB scouts and is expected to take over as the Friday night ace.
UAPB’s first two weekend series against Lindenwood and Stephen F. Austin will feature four games. Stout said the starting rotation for those series will start with Porter in the opening games.
Left-handed pitcher Joe King, who was committed to Vanderbilt out of high school, will join returning First Team All-SWAC right-handed pitcher Kenney Fabian in starting during the middle games, with Odessa College left-hander Ryland Morin expected to pitch the finales.
Fabian was the ace last season and was named to the preseason All-SWAC First Team on Tuesday. He said he has confidence in the entire pitching staff, and his altered role moving off Fridays should work out well.
“I think it’ll be really good,” Fabian said. “(Porter is) a super, super athlete. He’s very good, and we both lift each other up to do better each day. So, I think we’ll have a good season, us two, going forward.”
Perfect Game named both Fabian and Porter to its preseason All-SWAC team alongside Smith and returning catcher Vinny Saumell. The SWAC’s own preseason teams named Fabian first team and Saumell second team but left off Porter and Smith.
Reigning SWAC champion Bethune-Cookman was picked first and had a league-leading eight preseason All-SWAC selections. Four other schools had three, putting them ahead of the Golden Lions.
The SWAC’s preseason poll, released Monday and voted on by league coaches and sports information directors, listed UAPB sixth in the league, two spots down from last year’s finish.
Saumell said he appreciated the preseason All-SWAC recognition, but what happens in the season matters more than preseason expectations. He said he didn’t have any thoughts on being picked to finish sixth but does expect the Golden Lions will finish higher.
“I think the sky’s the limit with this group,” Saumell said. “You never know, and I think if we truly learn how to play with each other, Omaha’s out there for us to take.”
UAPB will open the season this weekend with a home series against Lindenwood beginning Friday at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex. Due to weather, the teams will play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 11 a.m.