UAPB Lions get validation from SEC

COURTESY UAPB ATHLETICS

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas -- Carlos James has a saying every time his Arkansas-Pine Bluff baseball team gets off a bus to play an SEC school on its home field.

"It's 4.8 versus 11.7 and a million dollars," James said, referring to the number of scholarships UAPB is allotted because of budget restrictions compared to the deeper pockets of SEC schools.

Twice this season, UAPB has come out on top against those programs.

The Golden Lions (10-10) beat Missouri 8-3 on Tuesday in Columbia, Mo., a game in which the Tigers entered ranked 23rd nationally by Collegiate Baseball. The victory came three weeks after UAPB beat then-No. 7 Mississippi State 3-2 in Starkville, Miss.

The two victories are the school's first over major conference opponents since James took over as the Golden Lions' coach in 2011, and James said it is even more proof of the progress his program has made than the Southwestern Athletic Conference Western Division championship the team won last year.

"It just kind of validates everything that we believe in our program," James said.

CONTINUE READING