UTA Falls To Texas State
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SAN MARCOS, Texas – UT Arlington dropped the series finale to Texas State 22-8 on Saturday afternoon as the Bobcats amassed 20 hits in seven innings of play, including a pair of grand slams, to clinch the series.
“Obviously it was an offensive day,” UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. “It was hot and windy and we didn’t do a good job of keeping it in the park. When you play a full season you’re going to get one of these and it happened to be on the last day. I don’t think it was lack of effort or anything, it was just that they got some balls out of the park. It’s hard to overcome two grand slams, but we’ll regroup, get ready for the tournament and see what happens.”
The Mavericks (23-30, 14-16 SBC) brought runs across in each of the first four innings, but were outscored by the Bobcats (22-30-1, 14-16) in each of the first five innings of play. UTA recorded 11 hits in the game, while scoring in all but one inning.
Levi Scott was the spark for the UTA offense as the senior infielder went 3-for-3 at the plate with four RBI, including a solo shot to center field in the sixth inning. Jackson Morris and Darien McLemore were the only other Maverick players to record a multi-hit outing as Morris finished 2-for-3, while McLemore notched a 2-for-4 outing.
The Mavericks jumped out to an early lead when a sacrifice fly by Scott and
a single by McLemore pushed across a pair of runs. However, the lead was short-lived as the Bobcats responded with a three-run inning of their own.
UTA regained the lead in the top of the second with a two-RBI single by Scott to centerfield, but Texas State was able to answer again with a four-run inning that included one of two Bobcat grand slams on the day.
The Mavericks were able to do damage in the third and fourth with a pair of one-run innings, but the Bobcats brought across 11 runs in those two innings as they took a 18-6 lead.
UTA chipped into the Texas State lead in the sixth and seventh with a pair of one-run innings, but the Bobcats 14-run lead after seven innings ended the game via the run rule.
The Mavericks will return to action on Wednesday in the Sun Belt Conference Championship held in Troy, Ala. on May 20-24. Unofficially, No. 7 UTA will take on the host school in No. 2 Troy in the first round of the tournament.
