CONWAY – A bout of food poisoning left the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff baseball team shorthanded and lethargic on Tuesday.
UAPB dropped a midweek road game 10-0 in eight innings to Central Arkansas at Bear Stadium, its second loss to UCA this season.
UAPB coach Logan Stout said the Golden Lions didn’t play well.
“We can talk about all the kids with food poisoning,” Stout said. “We can talk about all the stuff, but at the end of the day, we had beautiful weather, beautiful place and a chance to play baseball against a good team, and we just didn’t play. We had zero energy in batting practice, zero energy throughout the game. It is what it is.”
UAPB (11-28) finished the game with one hit, a two-out single by catcher Brant Voth in the top of the seventh inning. The only other Golden Lion to reach base was designated hitter Vinny Saumell, who reached on an error in the second inning. As a team, UAPB finished 1 for 26 at the plate.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Right-handed starting pitcher Jacob Pannell (3-0) gave UCA four no-hit innings with three strikeouts. Jake Jones pitched the next three innings, giving up just the Voth single with three strikeouts.
Voth said delivering that seventh inning hit and at least avoiding the no-hitter was a relief.
“You’re never really thinking about it, I guess, until it gets later in the game,” Voth said. “It’s definitely not something I’m thinking about in the box during the at-bat, but the guys had been talking about it, and you can hear them when we get the hit and stuff. It’s good to not get no-hit. I think that’s good for our morale.”
Tuesday was Saumell’s first appearance since he was hit by a fouled pitch against Lamar on April 9. He normally plays catcher, but UAPB played him at designated hitter to ease him back into the lineup.
Stout said he was hesitant to play Saumell, but the Golden Lions were shorthanded due to a bout of food poisoning. Starting first baseman Ben VanMaanen and scheduled starting pitcher Emerson Lott missed the game, and Stout said several others were sick to varying degrees, though some tried to hide it and play through it.
“I don’t know how many guys it was affecting, but I know this: our guys were not our guys,” Stout said. “This is not the Golden Lions that you see. They were just in a coma since BP, since they got off the bus. So, I don’t know what it is. Hopefully, we can get it out of our system, get a bunch of electrolytes in us and be ready for this weekend.”
Blake Coleman, a sophomore, played first base in his 12th appearance and fifth start of the season. In place of Lott, right-hander Darrius Brown (0-1) made his first start on the mound and his second appearance of the year. He had pitched 1 2/3 innings against No. 2 Arkansas in his only prior action this season at pitcher, though he had played in 18 games as a hitter.
After struggling through the first two innings, Brown settled in and lasted four innings. He allowed 4 runs on three hits and four walks with four strikeouts.
Stout said he was proud of Brown, who he pulled after four innings to save him for the weekend.
“Getting the call at the last second and going on the mound, and first time ever pitching off of turf,” Stout said. “The turf, he had to get used to that, the landing. Once he did, he dialed in and put up two zeros. I mean, he’s going to pitch for us, and he’s going to do well. You saw that, because once he got dialed in, he wanted to keep going.”
UCA (15-24) took the lead in the bottom of the second inning, scoring 4 runs on 2 hits. Centerfielder Sam Reynolds drove in the first run with the first hit by either team of the day, then right fielder Preston Curtis drove in another with a single. A hit batter and a sacrifice fly by catcher Casey Shipley, both with the bases loaded, made it 4-0.
That score held until UCA second baseman Tanner Leonard hit a 3-RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth. UAPB relief pitcher Steffan Fak had retired the first two hitters and had some close two-strike pitches but couldn’t get the strike three call as UCA loaded the bases for Leonard.
The Bears made it 9-0 by scoring a pair of runs with the bases loaded in the seventh. With the bases loaded in the eighth, Keon Moseni scored on a walk-off wild pitch to trigger the run-rule.