This weekend, for the first time in more than a month, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff lost a SWAC baseball series.
Grambling State clinched the three-game set at J.C. Love Field in Ruston, La., with a 7-5 win. The series was moved from Grambling’s campus to Louisiana Tech’s turf field due to the past week’s rain.
UAPB senior Brant Voth (2-4), who pitched 4.1 innings on Wednesday in a rained-out game against Louisiana Tech, started Sunday’s series finale. The Tigers jumped on him early, forcing him out of the game after 1.1 innings. He allowed five runs on three hits with a walk.
Emerson Lott finished the second inning and began the third, allowing one run before Ashton Davis settled the game down for UAPB (14-32, 12-9 SWAC). The senior right-hander held the Tigers to one run in 4.1 innings. He struck out six hitters with one walk before turning the game over to Cole Kenyon, who pitched a scoreless final 1.2 innings.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
GSU (21-23, 16-8) catcher Chris Marcellus started the scoring with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. Marcellus went on to lead the Tigers with three RBI on 1-of-3 hitting.
The Tigers led 6-0 before the Golden Lions began to fight back. With Davis’ pitching keeping the deficit where it was, UAPB scored three runs in the fourth, including a two-RBI double by third baseman Trinidad De La Garza. He finished the game 2 for 2 with two walks.
Left fielder Gavin Terry cut it to 6-4 in the seventh on an RBI groundout, but GSU left fielder Trey Bridges answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning. Across all three games of the series, Bridges hit a combined 4 for 8 with seven RBI.
GSU starter Trenton Shaw (2-3) pitched 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on three hits with 10 strikeouts and five walks. Javier Martinez earned his fourth save of the season by holding UAPB to one run on two hits with two strikeouts and a walk the rest of the way.
UAPB won the series opener 6-2 on Saturday, handing the Tigers their first loss in a SWAC series opener this season, but the Tigers won 8-3 later that day. GSU clinched the series with Sunday’s win, breaking UAPB’s streak of three straight series victories, which included two sweeps and a series win against the SWAC’s top team.
The Golden Lions went 8-1 in SWAC play in April, but they start May with a 1-2 record. UAPB’s last series defeat had been March 28-30, a sweep by Alabama State in Pine Bluff.