The baseball bats stayed hot for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Tuesday as the Golden Lions dominated an in-state rival they had historically struggled to beat.
UAPB beat Central Arkansas for the first time in over a decade, winning 13-3 in seven innings for its fifth straight win at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex and third straight win by run rule.
UAPB (14-17) tallied 15 hits, a season-high in a seven-inning game against a Division I opponent. The Golden Lions have two 16-hit games: one against an NAIA foe, and one in a nine-inning game.
UAPB Coach Logan Stout said after the Golden Lions struggled offensively early in the season, he was proud to see them come through against good pitching.
“As a hitter, it can be very stressful when you know how good you are, but you’re just not getting the results, especially when we have 31 new guys to Division I college baseball,” Stout said. “It’s easy to start doubting yourself, and I’m just proud of these guys for never doubting, staying focused on the process, buying into what we’re talking about.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
All 10 batters who appeared at the plate tallied at least one hit, with left fielder and leadoff man Jose Vasquez hitting 3 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs. He reached base in all five of his plate appearances with a walk and a hit by pitch.
Third baseman Ian Smith delivered the walk-off hit, a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the seventh which triggered the run rule and made him the ninth Golden Lion with an RBI in the game.
The win was UAPB’s first against the Bears since a 14-9 victory in Conway on April 7, 2015, and snapped a 13-game losing streak.
UAPB center fielder Weston Gingerich, who made his first two appearances of the season over the weekend as a substitute, found himself in the starting lineup for the first time on Tuesday. He walked and added a pair of RBI singles before Nick Hockemeyer replaced him as UAPB eases Gingerich back from a hamstring injury which had kept him sidelined.
UCA (14-15) went through five pitchers, with every pitcher who recorded an out giving up at least two runs. Luke Lorence faced one batter, giving up the walk-off single to Smith. Starter JB Williams went the longest, allowing four runs in three innings off six hits.
UAPB right-handed starting pitcher Jordan Medellin threw 4 2/3 no-hit innings while collecting a season-high five strikeouts with one walk.
Medellin hit two batters in the fifth inning and left them in scoring position with two outs for left-hander Nate Lee, who gave up a two-RBI single to centerfielder Jayden Sloan before escaping the inning with the lead down to 4-2.
The outing was Medellin’s second-longest of the season after his 5 1/3-inning start against Missouri on Feb. 25. It was his first outing of any length without allowing a hit.
“(Medellin) had three pitches working for strikes,” Stout said. “He got tired there. Pegged a couple guys on breaking balls and a little wild pitch, passed ball. That’s how they scored their two runs early.”
The Golden Lions added a run in the fifth before scoring six runs on six hits and an error in the sixth to pull away. Third baseman Zach Wieder hit his second home run of the season, a two-run shot to right field, to start the big inning. Hockemeyer added a two-RBI single as UAPB took a 13-2 lead into the seventh.
Vasquez, who led off the inning with a single before scoring on Wieder’s home run, said the big inning felt amazing after UCA had gotten back into the game two innings prior.
“Nothing at all fazes us,” Vasquez said. “We just go back at you. We’re just going keep pressing on the gas and just fighting for each other.”
The Bears added an unearned run in the seventh, the only run Lee allowed in his 2 1/3 innings of relief. He allowed three hits but no walks with one strikeout.
Tuesday’s game wrapped up a stretch of 14 games in which 13 were at home. The Golden Lions’ next eight games will be on the road.