An eighth-inning rally was undone in the ninth as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff baseball dropped its second straight weekend baseball series.
University of Houston second baseman Antonelli Savattere delivered the walk-off single Saturday afternoon to defeat UAPB 6-5 and clinch the series at Schroeder Park in Houston.
With two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game, Houston (9-5) designated hitter Carsten Sabathia, the son of six-time MLB All-Star CC Sabathia, hit a double off the center field wall. The Cougars replaced him at second base with pinch runner Peyton Dickens.
UAPB (5-11) intentionally walked the next hitter as it looked for the final out it needed to force extra innings, but Savattere hit a 2-2 pitch into center field with Dickens beating the throw to the plate to end the game.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The final-inning heroics almost weren’t needed. Houston starting pitcher Kendall Hoffman kept the Golden Lions in check for seven innings. He held UAPB to three hits, though two of those were solo home runs by second baseman Konner Giddley and third baseman Zach Wieder.
Houston led 5-2 entering the top of the eighth, but UAPB jumped on reliever Tyler Bryan quickly. The first four hitters reached base, with shortstop Aaron Grant walking to bring home a run.
Wieder and right fielder Blake Coleman delivered back-to-back sacrifice flies to tie the game at 5 before Bryan finally escaped the inning.
UAPB reliever Brendan Hamlin (1-2) took over with one out and a runner on first in the bottom of the eighth. He gave up a single but picked off pinch runner Irvin Weems at first before he ended the frame with a strikeout.
The Golden Lions got their first two hitters of the ninth inning aboard without an out against UH reliever Caden Cooper. Freshman catcher Owen Gietzen, who entered the game as a defensive substitute in the prior half inning, attempted to bunt the runners into scoring position.
Instead, UH third baseman Jackson LaLima fielded the bunt and quickly turned around to fire a pass to shortstop Tyler Cox at third base. Cox tagged the bag for the first out before delivering a pass across the infield to Savattere, who was covering first, to complete a double play which was disastrous for UAPB.
Max McCraray (1-0) relieved Cooper after the play and induced a ground ball against the only hitter he faced to keep the game tied, allowing Savattere to win the game for Houston in the bottom of the ninth.
Starter Kenney Fabian did what he could to keep the Golden Lions in the game but needed 111 pitches to get through six innings. He allowed four runs, three of them earned, on six hits with five strikeouts.
Saturday’s loss came after UAPB led 7-0 early in Friday’s series opener but ultimately lost 13-9.
The game was the first of a scheduled doubleheader. The series finale entered a weather delay at roughly 5:35 p.m. with Houston leading 7-0 midway through the fifth inning. The game will resume at noon Sunday.
The Cougars chased UAPB starter Ryland Morin with one out in the first inning. Houston scored 3 runs in that inning before Sabathia hit a grand slam in the second. UAPB went through two other relievers before Troy McLeese settled things down. As of the weather delay, he had pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings without allowing a hit.
Houston starter Connor Udland had held UAPB to one hit and one walk with five strikeouts through five innings as of the delay.