UTA Defeats Texas State
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SAN MARCOS, Texas – UT Arlington punched its ticket to the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Championship with a 7-6 victory over Texas State at Bobcat Ballpark on Thursday night.
The Mavericks (23-28, 14-14 SBC) recorded 12 hits in the game, while the Bobcats (20-30-1, 12-16) came away with 10 hits of their own. UTA was 7-for-17 in the box with runners on base compared to 5-for-17 for Texas State.
“First off, that was a heck of an effort by Chad Nack,” UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. “He pitched his tail off and we didn’t play real well behind him. We knew it was going to be tough to score and it’s always tough when we play here against these guys. It’s really good to get an opening night win in the series. It’s a tough place for us to play and we played against a tough arm right there.”
A pair of seniors led the offensive charge for the Mavericks in the game as Travis Sibley and Levi Scott combined for five hits and five RBI. Sibley was excellent at the plate, going 4-for-5 with one run and one RBI, while Scott’s 1-for-4 performance included four RBI and one run. Darien McLemore and RJ Williams also chipped in with a pair of 2-for-4 performances.
Nack allowed six hits and four earned runs in his six-inning outing, while also striking out a pair of Bobcat batters. Jake Wilcox (2-2) came away with the win as he gave up one hit and one earned run
in 0.2 innings on the hill. Zach Hobbs registered his first close of the season as he came in and forced a fly out in the game’s final play.
The UTA win paired with Arkansas State’s victory over UALR secures the Mavericks spot in the 2015 SBC Conference Championship which will be held in Troy, Ala. on May 20-24. UT Arlington can clinch the sixth seed with a win over Texas State in Friday night’s game.
The Mavericks struck first in the fourth inning with Scott’s two-run shot over the left field wall. Sibley led off the inning with a single to shallow right-field, setting the stage for Scott to give UTA a 2-0 lead.
The Bobcats responded with a two-run home run of their own in the bottom of the fourth, tying the game at two runs.
UTA regained the lead with a one-run fifth inning, making the score 3-2 in favor of the Mavs. Matt McLean got things started with his single to first base. Sibley was able to push McLean to third in the next at-bat with his single to right-center field. Scott brought in the go-ahead run with his ground out to first base that made room for McLean to score.
The Mavericks added some cushion to their lead in the seventh with one run crossing. Williams led off the inning with a single to centerfield and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by McLean. Sibley was able to single to the shortstop, putting runners on the corners with one out. Scott recorded his fourth RBI of the day with his ground out to the pitcher that brought in Williams.
Texas State used a three-run inning in the bottom half of the seventh to take their first lead of the game, going on top 5-4.
A three-run inning returned the lead to UT Arlington in the eighth. The first run came across when Brady Cox hit a single to left field that brought in Eric Tate from second base. With a Christian Hollie walk and a Williams single loading the bases with one out, McLean delivered with his sacrifice fly to centerfield that scored Cox. The final run of the inning came in the next at-bat with Sibley hitting a high fly ball to shallow left field that fell between the left fielder and shortstop for a RBI double.
The Bobcats hoped to rally in the eighth as they brought one run across off of a sacrifice fly to right field, but a strikeout by Daniel James ended the inning with the Mavs on top by one run at 7-6.
A pair of great plays by Sibley and Hollie sealed the deal for the Mavericks in the ninth. Sibley hustled to shallow left field and made an over the shoulder catch to record the first out of the inning, while Hollie made a leaping grab in left field for the game’s final out.
“We’re trying to win a series and trying to finish this season as well as we can,” Thomas added. “It’s about momentum and we talked about that before we came out here today. It’s about momentum and hopefully we can keep it up through the rest of the series.”
The Mavericks will return to action on Friday when they take on the Bobcats. The second game of the series is set to begin at 6 p.m. at Bobcat Ballpark.
