The title of the hottest baseball team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference belongs to Southern.
It entered the final game of its three-game series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on a nine-game win streak. Southern was determined to sweep its opponent to keep the streak alive, and it did just that.
The Jaguars took down UAPB 16-15, overcoming a seven-run deficit on Sunday at Lee-Hines Stadium. They won their 10th straight game after trailing 15-8 in the middle of the seventh inning.
“Everybody's happy right now,” Southern coach Chris Crenshaw said, smiling after the win. “I’m thrilled, they're thrilled. It’s 10 in a row, I got an ice bath. It is what it is.”
In the bottom of the seventh, Jacoby Radcliffe delivered a momentous three-run RBI triple. This was the senior outfielder’s third triple of the year, cutting the deficit to 15-13.
Southern (21-20, 14-7) recaptured a 16-15 lead after a two-run homer by junior outfielder Ryan Hunter.
“I got into a 3-2 count, they brought in a new pitcher,” Hunter said. “He threw me two pitches down in the zone, fought it off. I’m just trying to stay in the middle of the field. He threw it down and in, and it was more of a reaction kind of thing. … Put a good swing on it.”
Crenshaw was asked about the difference in his team since starting 5-7 in SWAC play.
“Starting to get healthy, starting to get guys that I thought were gonna be our main guys in the lineup on a daily basis,” the sixth-year coach said. “They just believe in what we've been talking about and we finally caught some breaks."
Both teams found their offense early. After UPAB scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, Southern immediately responded by loading the bases with the top of its batting order.
Hunter, the Jaguars' leadoff hitter, hit the ball off the right-field wall for a double. The junior’s hit was followed by senior Kameron Byrd’s single and a walk for senior catcher Xavier Bradley. With the bases loaded, Jaylon Lucky smacked a line drive toward third base for a two-RBI single.
Redshirt freshman Omari Johnson drove in another run after UAPB (19-26, 12-19) failed to convert a double play.
In the second frame, Southern’s senior righty pitcher Quincy Thornton retired the side in order, striking out two. The success from Thornton wasn’t replicated in the third inning.
UAPB knotted the game at 4-4 quickly. Konner Giddley then hammered a two-run double. Southern changed pitchers after Thornton was taken out of the game after driving in a run with a hit batter. Freshman Caden Brown replaced him with Southern trailing 6-4. Thornton allowed four hits, six earned runs, three walks and threw 61 pitches in 2⅓ innings.
Brown helped Southern escape the inning without giving up another run, and the Jaguars tacked on a run of their own. In the fourth frame, the Golden Lions scored another four runs. UAPB’s Zyon Hamilton doubled to right field for a pair of scores that gave his team a 10-5 lead.
After junior pitcher Ryland Morin threw a ball that hit Byrd, UAPB’s coach Logan Stout replaced the lefty with junior Jordan Medellin.
The new righty pitcher struggled early. He threw a wild pitch that advanced Byrd to second, and allowed two RBI doubles to right field for Bradley and Lucky. Southern entered the fifth inning down 10-7.
Crenshaw brought in his third pitcher, freshman right-hander Jayden Lawrence. He retired the first batter he faced and then gave up the game’s first home run. The homer from junior Zach Wieder snuck over the right-field wall.
Lawrence recovered, preventing another run and closing the inning with a strikeout swinging.
With Southern down 11-8 entering the top of the sixth inning, Crenshaw used his fourth pitcher, freshman Rupert Blackwood. The righty made a costly error after a bunt with two players on base. He scooped the ball up and threw it inaccurately to his first baseman. The ball wasn’t caught, allowing a runner to reach home plate.
Crenshaw replaced Blackwood with redshirt freshman Stephen Tolbert after the mistake. The righty entered with runners on first and third and Southern with no outs. Southern gave up one more run and didn’t score itself.
In the seventh inning, Southern's sixth pitcher was freshman Genesis Prosper. The Jaguars gave up a pair of runs after a walk with bases loaded and a sacrifice fly.
On offense, Byrd ripped an RBI single down left center to start. A hit batter drove in a second run for the Jaguars, who had no outs.
UAPB swapped out its pitcher after the score, putting in junior Jack Hasten. The pitching change was ineffective as Radcliffe hammered the ball off the right field wall for a three-RBI triple. This was followed by freshman third baseman Kenyon Hughes, who grounded out to first base and drove in another run. Southern entered the eighth inning down 15-14.
The surge continued when Southern used its seventh pitcher of the afternoon, Kenneth Jackson. The right-handed junior struck out two and forced a flyout against the fourth batter he faced.
Then came the go-ahead homer from Hunter. Southern sealed the victory with senior righty Caleb Ellis on the mound in the ninth. The game ended after Hughes scooped up a groundball and stepped on third base to for the last out.
Crenshaw’s message to his Southern team, which plays UL next at 6 p.m. Tuesday at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park, is simple.
“Keep going, keep plugging away,” he said.