The hottest baseball team in the SWAC travels to the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex this weekend.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will host Jackson State at 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday in the Golden Lions’ final home games of the season.
Jackson State (27-27, 14-10 SWAC) brings a 10-game winning streak to Pine Bluff, the longest active streak in the SWAC. The Tigers haven’t lost since April 15 against Nicholls State.
Since then, JSU has swept three straight SWAC series with a midweek home win against New Orleans. Those series victories came after the Tigers had lost four of their first five SWAC series.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The three sweeps came against the bottom three teams in the SWAC standings but nonetheless allowed the Tigers to pass UAPB (14-32, 12-9) and move into a tie with Texas Southern for fifth. UAPB dropped to seventh after losing two of three games at Grambling State last weekend, which ended a three-series win streak.
The Tigers have been hot the past few weeks, but UAPB is 7-6 at home this season and has won five of its past six home games. That includes winning two of three games against Bethune-Cookman, a feat no other SWAC team has accomplished this year, so the Golden Lions have experience winning at home against a team with momentum.
JSU is led by senior left-handed pitcher Eric Elliot (6-0). The reigning SWAC co-pitcher of the week has the conference’s best ERA, 2.71. His 83 strikeouts this season are second only to teammate Erick Gonzalez’s 88 in the SWAC.
Gonzalez (7-3, 5.63 ERA), a senior right-hander, joins Elliot and left-handed graduate student Brandon Haston (3-6, 5.37) as the Tigers’ usual weekend starters.
UAPB ace Kenney Fabian (4-6, 3.88) continues to climb the SWAC leaderboard. His seven scoreless innings last weekend against Grambling State moved him from fifth to third in the SWAC in ERA, with only Elliot and Florida A&M’s Carson Kelly now ahead of him.
When counting only conference games, Elliot (2.53) and Fabian (2.61) are the only SWAC pitchers lower than 3.00. Elliot has only started one SWAC series opener this season, so it seems unlikely the two will go head-to-head with Fabian starting every series opener this season.
UAPB has shuffled its Saturday and Sunday starting positions throughout the season. Freshman left-hander Major Spence (0-2, 6.20 ERA) has started three of the past four middle games.
Senior right-hander Brant Voth (2-4, 9.60) started last Sunday, marking his return to the starting rotation after being pressed into catching duties with starting catcher Vinny Saumell out. Saumell returned from injury and played in two of the three games against Grambling last weekend.
With the two teams immediately behind UAPB in the standings, Southern and Prairie View A&M, playing the 10th and 11th place teams this weekend, each win for UAPB this weekend will be vital for the Golden Lions’ plans to qualify for the SWAC tournament for the first time since 2019.