Two midweek games against in-state foes await the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff baseball team this week, including one featuring a former Golden Lion.
UAPB will play the University of Arkansas at Little Rock at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Gary Hogan Field before returning home to face Arkansas Baptist College at 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex.
Baptist was a late addition to the schedule. The Buffaloes are led by first-year Coach JaKobi Jackson, who played at UAPB from 2022-2024. Jackson started 77 games and appeared in 102 as a Golden Lion outfielder and finished with a combined .277 batting average and 57 RBI.
Jackson also made 10 appearances on the mound between 2023 and 2024, pitching 15 innings with a 1.20 ERA.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
UAPB (9-16) last played Baptist in 2024, Jackson’s final season as a player. The Golden Lions swept a four-game nonconference series, outscoring the Buffaloes 97-15.
This will be UAPB’s first game against a non-Division I opponent under second-year Coach Logan Stout. Baptist plays in the NAIA.
The game at Little Rock (14-10) the day before will be the lone road game during what has otherwise been an extended home stand for the Golden Lions. UAPB has played its past eight games at home. The Baptist game will be the first of five more in Pine Bluff.
UAPB is looking to get back on track after losing four of its past five games. The Golden Lions lost a pair of midweek home games last week to Eastern Illinois, one of Little Rock’s conference mates in the Ohio Valley Conference, before losing two of three to SWAC foe Florida A&M.
Stout said after Sunday’s loss to FAMU it will be good for the Golden Lions to have two midweek games right after, allowing them to quickly put the losses behind them and focus on bouncing back.
“It’s awesome so these guys can get back on the field,” Stout said. “Losing stinks, and the good thing is, these guys are learning how to win. Whereas, perhaps, winning was an option; they’re starting to realize that we expect to win now. We’re supposed to win.”
Tuesday’s game will be the second of two meetings with the Trojans this year. UAPB defeated Little Rock 10-8 in Pine Bluff on March 3 after erasing an 8-0 deficit. The Golden Lions have won their past two home games with Little Rock but have lost six straight at Gary Hogan Field, last winning in 2017.
UAPB left fielder Jose Vasquez and right fielder Blake Coleman drove in 3 RBI each to lead the March 3 rally. Coleman enters this week with a team-leading .303 batting average, while Vasquez leads the team in on-base percentage at .432.
Little Rock catcher Cade Martin led the Trojans with 4 RBI in the first meeting, but the Trojans are led by two other players with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) over 1: outfielder Kade Smith (1.104) and first baseman Easton Roe (1.018). No UAPB player has an OPS higher than .887.
The Trojans enter Tuesday’s game having won six of their past seven, most recently sweeping an OVC road series at Tennessee Tech. Last Friday’s 12-4 win in the series opener was Little Rock Coach Chris Curry’s 276th career win with the Trojans, passing Gary Hogan to become the winningest coach in Little Rock history.