Sports

Golden Lions looking to break out of funk against UCA

By Jay Lupo/Of The Commercial Staff
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 8:19 AM CDT

The baseball hasn’t exactly bounced Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s way this season. And head coach Michael Bumpers isn’t disputing that.

What Bumpers is disputing is that his Golden Lions (4-15, 1-8 SWAC) haven’t been left for dead in 2008 despite losing eight of their last 10 games.

“We’ve had some things go against us early on that we haven’t been able to control,” said Bumpers, who’s in his second season as UAPB’s skipper. “We’ve had injuries, specifically to our pitching staff, that have really hurt us.”

Bumpers was specifically referring to the ongoing elbow problems junior ace Justin Moring is having. Moring, considered by many as one of the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s top pitchers, has been out since the beginning of this month and Bumpers isn’t sure when or even if he’ll get his ace back this season.

“We still don’t know for sure. He’s got another evaluation coming up and we should have a better idea then,” he said. “His injury has really taken a toll on our team. We were expecting so much from him coming in.”

UAPB plays host to Central Arkansas (10-12) tonight at 6 p.m. at Taylor Field. And Bumpers said his team couldn’t pick a better time to garner some momentum before hosting Texas Southern in a SWAC series this weekend.

“I think this a really big game for our kids,” Bumpers said. “This is a game against a very respectable opponent that’s in our region of the state. And that’s one thing we’re trying to do playing games like this, is build our recruiting base.

“Plus, we need something good to happen to us. I think beating a team like UCA would give us a lot of confidence.”

The loss of Moring has nearly devastated the Golden Lions in the early portion of their schedule. But Bumpers is already making the best of a bad situation.

“It’s just terrible not to have him,” he said. “But at the same time, it gives our younger guys a chance to get in there and pitch. They’re all getting more innings that they thought they would at this point.

“Early on, they were thrown into the fire and they got knocked around pretty good. But they’re getting better. I can see it every day. They’re more confident now. It’s a bad situation, yes. We want Justin back as soon as possible. But it has forced some of our younger guys to step up, and they’re doing that.”

UAPB’s primary problem has been pitching this season. The Lions’ team earned run average is 11.11 and they’ve surrendered 214 runs in 145 innings played. But UAPB’s bats haven’t exactly been stellar, either. The Golden Lions are hitting just .267 as a team compared to .349 for their opponents. One of UAPB’s best hitters a season ago, catcher Zac Varnell, is batting just .179 after hitting .304 and driving in 26 runs in 2007.

“We’ve struggled everywhere, it hasn’t just been on the mound,” Bumpers said. “Had we been hitting like we’re capable of, we’d have a lot more than four wins, I can tell you that.

“What we’re specifically not doing is hitting the baseball with runners in scoring position. We’ve hit OK, just not in that position. We’ve been working on that a lot lately.”

Today’s game holds special significance for Bumpers, who was an outfielder at Arkansas during his college playing days. The Bears’ head coach is Doug Clark, who was the longtime hitting instructor on former Razorbacks coach Norm DeBryin’s staff.

“Oh yeah, this is a special one for me personally,” he said. “I’m going against one of my mentors, a guy I love and respect.

“I talk to him still, and he’ll give me some advice. But once that first pitch is thrown [today], we’ll be trying to beat the heck out of each other.”

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