Designated hitter Carlos Rodriguez-Velez’s teammates mobbed him in centerfield Friday afternoon after he delivered the walk-off hit to give the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff a series-opening win.
The UAPB baseball team rallied from an early deficit to defeat Southern 7-6 at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex in Pine Bluff in the first game of the Golden Lions’ final weekend home series.
With runners on second and third bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Rodriguez-Velez singled into right field. Centerfielder Gavin Terry scored the tying run, then pinch runner Brad Mican slid home to win the game as the throw home flew behind him.
Rodriguez-Velez said hitting his first college walk-off felt great.
“I took those first two pitches, and I knew that fastball was coming, so I was just ready for it,” Rodriguez-Velez said. “It was an inside-high fastball. I was kind of, like, waiting for it, so I just wanted to hit it hard.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The celebration nearly didn’t happen. Maurice Edwards led off as a pinch hitter and delivered a single. Two hitters later, Terry hit a ground ball to second with one out. The Jaguars retired Edwards at second, but Terry just beat the throw to first to keep the game alive. Southern argued the safe call to no avail.
The next hitter, catcher Edwin De La Cruz, hit a ground ball to Southern shortstop Marcus Sanders which, again, could have ended the game. Instead, Sanders threw the ball well over first baseman Dylan Jones’ head, allowing De La Cruz to reach second and Terry to reach third, setting up Rodriguez-Velez for the game-winning hit.
He finished 2 of 5 with 3 RBIs and a run. Terry hit 1 of 3 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs, while right fielder Jalyn Williams hit 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs and a run.
UAPB (15-31, 6-17 SWAC) coach Carlos James said he talked with Rodriguez-Velez before that final at-bat.
“The times that he got out, he swung at pitches that were in the dirt or high, and he got himself out,” James said. “When I had the meeting with him, I just told him just, “Deep breath, and just hit a strike. If you hit a strike and just hit it hard, no matter where it goes, we’re going to win the game.’”
Southern (20-26, 13-11) used three hits and two UAPB errors to take a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Sanders hit a 2-RBI single as the Jaguars sent nine hitters to the plate.
After that rough inning, UAPB starting pitcher Jacob Ehling (4-5) allowed just one run the rest of the game, which came in the fourth. Southern nearly added one in the ninth, but UAPB shortstop Donovan Noble threw the ball home in time for De La Cruz to tag Tyeler Hawkins at the plate and keep it a 1-run game.
Ehling, who pitched the complete game, allowed 4 earned runs on nine hits. He struck out six batters and walked one. He said he settled into the game after the first inning.
“I gotta be able to locate my changeup, and man, my changeup was probably the best it’s been all season,” Ehling said. “I was getting whiffs and weak contact. If I file through all my pitches, tunnel good, I feel like I can get anybody out in the SWAC.”
UAPB chipped away after Southern took its 5-0 lead. Terry hit a 2-run home run in the bottom of the first, and Williams did the same as part of a 3-run bottom of the fifth.
Southern left-handed pitcher Christian Davis (1-3) relieved starter Ranard Grace an inning later. He did not allow a run until Rodriguez-Velez’s walk-off hit in 3 2/3 innings. He gave up four hits and no walks with three strikeouts.
James said the Golden Lions fighting back from the early deficit near the end of a tough season shows their character.
“Most kids that age would mail it in and just go, ‘OK, this is over,’ but that’s just character with them,” James said. “I challenged them every day that no matter what happens, their job is to represent UAPB, UAPB’s baseball program, and themselves in a manner that’s uplifting, no matter what. All I ask is, hopefully administration can help us out and give us more scholarships so that we can have more players, that we can win more games like this.”