A change of venue and a nearly 20-hour delay couldn’t stop the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff from completing its ninth-inning rally.
UAPB right fielder Blake Coleman delivered the walk-off hit in Little Rock on Sunday as the Golden Lions defeated Lindenwood 2-1 to earn a split of the teams’ season-opening four game series.
The series finale began at roughly 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex in Pine Bluff but was suspended with one out in the ninth inning due to rain and field conditions. UAPB (2-2) trailed 1-0, but had the bases loaded.
The teams agreed to finish the game Sunday morning at the Pulaski Academy baseball and softball complex in western Little Rock. Lindenwood (2-2) put left-handed pitcher Sam Driscoll on the mound for his first pitching appearance of the season.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Driscoll faced one hitter. Coleman, who had been the next scheduled hitter for UAPB when the game was delayed, hit a 2-RBI single into right field, scoring centerfielder Jose Vasquez from third base and designated hitter Joe Adams from second to end the game.
The game was originally the second of a double-header on Saturday. UAPB went 171/3 innings without scoring on Saturday, taking a 3-0 loss in the first game before entering the ninth of the second trailing 1-0, but got the big hit it needed Sunday.
Coleman was the only UAPB hitter with a hit in all four games of the series. He finished the weekend 5 for 12 with 4 RBIs and 2 runs. His other RBIs came on a 2-run home run in UAPB’s 8-6 victory on Friday in the series’ second game.
Lindenwood’s loss in the finale came despite seven scoreless innings from starter Lucas Niemeyer. Braden Branigan (0-1) relieved him and was on the mound when the game was postponed Saturday afternoon. He gave up three hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Branigan struck out the first hitter of the ninth before giving up a single to Vasquez, hitting Adams with a pitch and walking left fielder Zyon Hamilton. The game was postponed immediately following Hamilton’s walk.
UAPB reliever Ryan Lamar (1-0) didn’t have to pitch on Sunday but gave the Golden Lions a chance on Saturday.
He entered with two outs in the eighth inning and threw a wild pitch, but catcher Matt Dworsky got to the ball behind home plate and threw it to Lamar in time for him to tag out Lindenwood center fielder Kam Edwards to end the inning.
Lamar then pitched a clean top of the ninth, striking out one hitter and getting fly outs from the other two to keep it a 1-0 game entering the home half of the final inning.