With the series in the balance, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff sophomore Courtney Allen played hero on senior day.
Allen’s walk-off hit lifted UAPB to a 4-3 win in 11 innings on Saturday against Jackson State, clinching the weekend series at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex.
UAPB coach Logan Stout briefly got emotional before saying how proud of Allen he was after the game.
“What people don’t see is he was in the bullpen that whole time catching bullpens,” Stout said. “We hollered down at him, because I thought that matchup was going to be good for his swing plane. I mean, you’re down there catching pens the whole time, and then all of a sudden, boom. You’re thrown into the game four hours later or whatever it is. It was just fitting. It was a storybook ending.”
With the game tied at 3 entering the bottom of the 11th inning, UAPB (16-32, 14-9 SWAC) catcher Vinny Saumell led off with a single, which ricocheted off a Tiger’s foot, allowing Saumell to beat the throw to first base.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Right fielder Dane Small followed with a single, and substitute second baseman Jason Moss walked to load the bases with no outs.
UAPB called upon Allen as a pinch hitter. He worked a long at-bat with several fouled pitches. Finally, with a 3-2 count, he drove the ball at Jackson State (27-19, 14-12) third baseman Tyshon Patty. Like Saumell’s leadoff single, it ricocheted away from Patty as Saumell scored, and the rest of the team chased Allen to the outfield wall to celebrate with him.
Allen called it a crazy feeling.
“My coach prepared me for this moment, so I’m ready,” Allen said. “Always been ready. … Stay the course. We go through this every day in practice. Just love being in practice, dude.”
Extra innings were required after JSU second baseman Ledy Alvarez hit a go-ahead 2-RBI single in the eighth inning, which UAPB shortstop Jesus Riera answered with a game-tying sacrifice fly in the bottom half. UAPB stranded the winning run at second in the bottom of the ninth.
Both teams went in order in the 10th. The Tigers got a leadoff runner on base in the 11th, but UAPB reliever Cole Kenyon (3-2) got out of the inning with a ground ball, a popup and a fly out.
UAPB starting pitcher Major Spence, a freshman left-hander, gave the Golden Lions his best outing of the season. He pitched 5.1 innings, allowing 1 run on six hits with two walks. He had not pitched longer than 4.0 innings this season.
The Golden Lions needed Spence’s best against the pitcher with the best ERA in the SWAC, JSU senior left-hander Eric Elliot. He held UAPB to 2 runs on one hit with six strikeouts and seven walks in six innings.
Stout said the odds likely weren’t in UAPB’s favor with a freshman dueling the SWAC’s ERA leader.
“What I loved about Major is he just competed,” Stout said. “He just competed and executed the pitches we asked him to execute, and he did a phenomenal job.”
Major held the Tigers scoreless through the first four innings after Friday starter Kenney Fabian had shut out Jackson State the day before. An RBI triple by shortstop Robert Tate Jr. gave the Tigers their first run of the series in their 14th offensive inning. Tate finished the game 3 for 5 and was a home run short of a cycle.
That run cut UAPB’s lead to 2-1 at the time. The Golden Lions had taken the lead the half inning prior on an RBI fielder’s choice by Saumell and a bases-loaded balk.
Elliot and reliever Nkosi Diddler held UAPB to three combined hits through the first 7.1 innings before Stevins Spurgeon Jr. (2-3) entered the game. He pitched the final 2.2 innings plus the 11th, allowing 1 run on four hits and two walks with one strikeout.
UAPB honored 10 seniors before the game, and Stout said it was great to give them a win on senior day.
“Those seniors are the cornerstone of the program,” Stout said. “To see them get their degrees and walk the stage and have their families come out on the field before the game, as a dad, it was touching.”
The series finale against JSU is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.