The UCA baseball team roared past the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Lions, 9-6, April 7 at Bear Stadium.
“A lot of ground balls tonight, and that was big,” UCA baseball coach Nick Harlan said. “We made a couple of mistakes, but we responded well to them.”
Graduate first baseman Jagger Schattle wasted no time to get the Bears (16-17, ASUN 5-7) on the board with a solo home run in the first inning.
The next four innings remained scoreless, with senior pitcher Jacob Pannell forcing batters out to allow the Bears to escape the second and fifth innings with the bases loaded.
“We needed to get a good start tonight; that was the bottom line,” Harlan said. “[Pannell] got better as he went. So I thought he did a great job and really set us up to win that game.”
The Lions (17-21, SWAC 10-5) were able to get themselves on the score board in the sixth inning with RBI single bunts from junior center fielder Nick Hockemeyer and junior third baseman Ian Smith to bring UAPB into the lead, 2-1.
In the seventh inning, Hockemeyer recorded another RBI by way of a walk with the bases loaded.
The Bears, however, got their act together in the seventh inning, with Schattle walking in UCA’s first run of the inning.
Redshirt sophomore third baseman Jack Runsick batted after Schattle and was walked, recording another RBI for the Bears.
Junior second baseman Parker Gwyn then reached first base on a fielding error by UAPB freshman shortstop Aaron Grant, which allowed sophomore shortstop Nate Negre to score a run.
UAPB senior pitcher Brendan Hamlin walked junior pinch hitter Keaton Laidley, which brought Schattle to home plate.
Redshirt sophomore center fielder Sam Reynolds then hit a 3 RBI double to bring in Runsick, Gwyn and Laidley home, bringing the score to 8-3.
Junior catcher Zane Denton batted in one last run for the Bears with a single hit up the middle to set Reynolds up to score.
The Lions tried to make things interesting in the ninth inning, loading the bases and recording runs from an RBI single by senior second baseman Trinidad de la Garza, a walk for Hockemeyer and a sacrifice fly ball RBI by Smith.
The Bears, however, were able to hang on with a double play to end the ninth inning and secure the win 9-6.
“The best part about it was that everybody did their job and they did it well,” Harlan said. “I thought that inning with [redshirt sophomore pitcher] Jake Jones was huge. I mean, he came in, traffic, two outs, took the splitting hits away from him, hits a guy and made a couple competitive pitches, but the next at bat resulted in a walk. He stayed poised and was able to minimize that inning.”
This weekend, UCA emerged victorious in a series against the Lipscomb University Bisons with wins in the first two games, 12-6 and 10-5, while dropping the final game with a 6-5 loss.
The Bears will return to Bear Stadium for a series against the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels, with the first game set for Friday, April 17, at 6 p.m.