Birmingham, Ala. — In a game that stretched past midnight due to a rain and lightning delay, the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions delivered one of their finest performances of the season, knocking off #1 seed Bethune-Cookman 6-4 in the opening round of the SWAC Baseball Championship at historic Rickwood Field. The Golden Lions, entering the tournament as the #8 seed, showed no fear of the top seed, jumping out early and holding on through a weather delay that pushed the final out past midnight. UAPB moves on to face #4 seed Alabama State on Thursday, May 21 at 6 PM.
The tone was set immediately. The Golden Lions erupted for three runs in the first inning, sending seven batters to the plate against Bethune-Cookman's ace. Zach Wieder opened things with a double down the left field line, and Aaron Grant brought him home with an RBI single up the middle. Lazaro Alvarado followed with a double of his own to put runners on second and third, and Blake Coleman delivered a single to second that plated Grant. Nick Hockemeyer capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to center, giving UAPB a 3-0 lead before Bethune-Cookman recorded a single out. It was as dominant an opening frame as the Golden Lions have produced all season.
UAPB kept pushing in the second. Konner Giddley singled up the middle, advanced on a wild pitch to third, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Weston Gingerich, extending the lead to 4-0. Then in the fourth, Zyon Hamilton turned on a pitch and tripled down the right field line, and Giddley immediately brought him home with another RBI single up the middle to make it 5-0.
Bethune-Cookman answered in the fifth with four runs, capped by a three-run home run, cutting the deficit to 5-4 and making things uncomfortable. But that was as close as the Wildcats would get. Kenney Fabian gutted through seven innings, allowing four earned runs while scattering nine hits, and was good enough to keep UAPB in front. He picked up his fifth win of the season in arguably his biggest start.
With the game on the line, Jaden Porter came out of the bullpen and was lockdown. The right-hander worked two clean innings, stranding runners and retiring hitters on groundballs, nailing a baserunner caught stealing at the plate to preserve the lead. When the rain delay came in the ninth with two outs, Porter returned after over an hour and struck out the next batter to keep the door shut — a show of composure well beyond his years. He picked up the save.
The Golden Lions added an insurance run in the ninth when Gingerich opened with a double, Wieder laid down a perfectly-placed bunt single, and Grant delivered a sacrifice fly to center to push the lead to 6-4. It was the kind of situational baseball that has defined UAPB's late-season run.
Wieder was sensational all night, going 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and three runs scored. Grant contributed two hits, two RBI, and a run scored while also anchoring a defense that turned key plays throughout. Giddley had two hits and two RBI in a crucial middle-of-the-order performance. Hamilton's triple sparked the fourth-inning run, and Gingerich, Coleman, and Hockemeyer all contributed in the early offensive outburst that set the tone.
The Golden Lions advance. Next up: #4 Alabama State, Thursday at 6 PM.
