Prairie View, Tex.– As the season winds down, head coach Carlos James and his University of Arkansas at Pine bluff Golden Lions baseball team knew the job at hand; take care of business and a trip to the 2013 SWAC Baseball Championships would be in the near future, and that’s just what they did.
With a SWAC western division weekend series on tap, the UAPB Golden Lions also have to make-up the home series against PV that was rained out. These games count towards final standings and tournament seeding as well.
In the first game, the UAPB Golden Lions bats seemed to have a mind of their own as the team from Pine Bluff only managed two hits as Panther pitcher Johnathon Mata was credited with a complete game shut-out. PV plated runs in the first, fifth and seventh innings for a 6-0 final. Golden Lions hurler Jim Ploeger suffered the loss.
The rubber match of the first day’s offering was completely different. It could’ve been Coach James’ between-game pep talk or maybe the powerade. Whatever the case may have been the Golden lions bounced back for a 5-3 victory in 11 innings.
UAPB plated its first run when Patrick Phillips came around to score on an Isias Alcantar single in the third inning. Then in the fourth, the Golden Lions got two more runs when Kirby Campbell crossed home on a wild pitch. Warren Stehn would score on a sacrifice fly by Cody De Mera.
By the ninth inning the Panthers would tie the ball game at three, resulting in the extra frames needed to wrap the game up. In the top of the 11th, on a Jacob Whitney single, Stehn and Dwayne Hysmith crossed home plate to give UAPB a 5-3 advantage that would prove to be today’s final.
UAPB’s Staten Jones got credit for the win, while starting pitcher Mikey Ramirez went 8 1/3 innings striking out nine.
With five conference games remaining, the UAPB Golden Lions need three more wins to claim the SWAC Western Division title heading into the tournament, which is scheduled May 15-19 in Fort Worth, Texas at the historic 5,100-seat LaGrave Field.
LaGrave Field opened in 1926. During its existence, LaGrave Field has hosted nearly 50 members of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. That list includes Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Sparky Anderson, Yogi Bera, Roy Campanella, Joe DiMaggio, Larry Doby, Willie Mayes, Willie McCovey, Stan Musial, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams, just to name a few.
LaGrave Field is the present-day home of the Fort Worth Cats minor league baseball team. The Cats are members of the United Baseball League.
For more information about the 2013 SWAC Baseball Tournament, visit www.SWAC.org. A detailed schedule is listed below.
Current SWAC baseball standings
2013 SWAC Baseball Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, May 15
Game 1 – 9:00 a.m. – West #3 vs. East #2
Game 2 – 12:00 p.m. – East #3 vs. West #2
Game 3 – 3:00 p.m. – East #4 vs. West #1
Game 4 – 6:00 p.m. – West #4 vs. East #1
Thursday, May 16
Game 5 – 9:00 a.m. – Loser G1 vs. Loser G3
Game 6 – 12:00 p.m. – Loser G2 vs. Loser G4
Game 7 – 3:00 p.m. – Winner G1 vs. Winner G3
Game 8 – 6:00 p.m. – Winner G2 vs. Winner G4
Friday, May 17
Game 9 – 9:00 a.m. – Loser G7 vs. Winner G5
Game 10 – 12:00 p.m. – Winner G6 vs. Loser G8
Game 11 – 3:00 p.m. – Winner G7 vs. Winner G9
Game 12 – 6:00 p.m. – Winner G10 vs. Winner G8
Saturday, May 18
Game 11a (If Necessary) – 12:00 p.m.
Winner G11 vs. Loser G11
Game 12a (If Necessary) – 12:00 p.m. or 3 p.m.
Loser G12 vs. Winner G12
Sunday, May 19
Game 15 – SWAC Championship – 2:00 p.m.
Bracket A Winner vs. Bracket B Winner
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