Golden Lions Win SWAC Western Division Title

HOUSTON  – The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions baseball team won the Southwestern Athletic Conference Western Division Title with a pair of wins over Texas Southern, here Saturday afternoon at MacGregor Park. Since rejoining the SWAC in 1998 this is the first time in school history, that the Golden Lions have won the conference’s western division.

UAPB in the first contest belted a game high 15 hits with Vladimir Gomez going four-for-five from the plate and scoring one run to lead the Golden Lions, while TSU tallied 12 hits with both Andre Garza and Jerry Ford garnering three hits apiece to lead the Tigers.

Redmond Floyd (2-0) picked up the win for UAPB  as  he pitched three and one-third innings in relief, allowing four hits and striking out three, while Jim Ploeger the Golden Lion starter pitched five and one-third innings, allowing eight hits, seven earned runs and striking out seven.

Felix Gomez (1-4) received the loss for TSU as he pitched two and two-third innings, allowing six hits, three earned runs and striking out two, while Darius McClelland the Tigers’ starter pitched two and one-third innings, yielding five hits, five earned runs and striking out two.

UAPB broke the 5-5 tie in the top of the fourth with a Jose Hernandez single to left field scoring Mie Wieland, giving the Golden Lions a 6-5 lead.

TSU went ahead 7-6 with a Robert Garza single scoring Ford, followed by an Andrew Garza single scoring Zach Welz in the bottom of the sixth inning.

UAPB regained the lead in the top of the seventh as they scored three runs in the inning to take a 9-7 lead.  The Golden Lions added three more runs in the top of the ninth for the 12-7 win.

In game two, UAPB pounded out 11 hit with Kirby Campbell going three-for-four from the plate to lead the Golden Lions, while TSU collected five hits with Welz garnering two hits to lead the Tigers.

Mikey Ramirez (6-4) received the win for UAPB as he pitched nine scoreless innings, allowing five hits, and striking one, while Michael Starkey (4-5) received the loss for TSU as he pitched three innings, allowing six hits, four earned runs and striking out two.

UAPB won the contest 7-1 as the Golden Lions plated one run in the second inning, three in the third and three in the eighth inning.
TSU plated their only run in the bottom of the ninth inning for the 7-1 finale.

The team dropped its final game of the season as Texas Southern scored nine runs in the bottom of the eighth to propel them to a 10-4 win over the Golden Lions, Sunday afternoon at MacGregor Park.

UAPB (22-26, 16-7 SWAC) finished the contest with eight hits with Andre Davis going three-for-four from the plate, scoring one runs and driving a run to lead the Golden Lions.

TSU (22-27, 13-9 SWAC) pounded out 14 hits with Andrew Garza going three-for-four, scoring one run and driving in two to lead the Tigers.

Jamell Blue (1-1) picked up the win for the Tigers as he pitched three innings,  and allowing two hits in the 11 batters he faced, while Jaron Gold (1-2) received the  loss for the Golden Lions as he gave up two hits and two earned runs in the three batters he faced. Kyle Schwartz the UAPB starter pitched seven and one third innings, allowing eight hits, three earned runs and striking out four in the 29 batters he faced.

UAPB jumped out to the 1-0 lead a Davis single up the middle scoring Vladimir Gomez in the top of the first inning.

TSU tied the contest at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning with an Andrew Garza single scoring Robert Garza.

The Golden Lions broke the 1-1 tied in the top of the sixth inning with an Isias Alcantar two-run homer to left field, giving UAPB a 3-1 lead.
UAPB added to their lead in the top in the seventh inning as Rashawn Tillman stole home, giving the Golden Lions a 4-1 lead.

TSU reclaimed the lead and picked up the win as the Tigers scored nine runs in the bottom of the eighth innings for the 10-4 win.