NEW ORLEANS – The University of Arkansas At Pine Bluff baseball team battled to the end in losing to Southern 11-7 in the opening game of the 2019 SWAC Baseball Tournament.
Justin Robinson,
Ricardo Sanchez and Tywan Mackey Jr. each had two hits for the Golden Lions, who will face Jackson State Thursday at noon in an elimination game.
Trailing 1-0 after one, UAPB took the lead in the second inning. Sanchez singled through the left side to lead off the inning and later stole second. With one out,
Ryan Mallison walked. After both players stole second and third,
Jarficur Parker's RBI groundout scored Sanchez. With two out, Mackey Jr.'s single through the right side scored Mallison for a 2-1 Golden Lion lead.
Tied 2-2 after three, UAPB regained the lead in the fourth, all with two outs. Parker reached on an error and moved to third on Mackey's single to right.
Davion White then singled through the right side, scoring Parker and moving Mackey to second. Robinson then singled through the left side, scoring Mackey for a 4-2 UAPB lead.
Southern regained the lead with three runs in the fourth and added three runs in the fifth to take an 8-4 lead but the resilient Lions kept putting the pressure on.
In the seventh, Robinson singled with one out. He proceeded to steal second and third base, and later scored on a two-out single by
Larry Sims to cut the deficit to 8-5.
In the eighth, UAPB cut the deficit to one.
Sergio Esparza walked and Mallison singled to lead off the inning. After a sacrifice bunt by Parker, Esparza scored on a wild pitch. Mallison then scored on a groundout by White to make the score 8-7.
Southern scored three in the bottom of the eighth for the final margin.
