UTA Baseball Loses At Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – It was a back and forth affair between UT Arlington and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday afternoon, but it was missed opportunities that hurt the Mavericks as they fell 12-8.
“On a day like today where the conditions are like they are with the wind blowing like it is, you’ve got to score,” UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. “We left guys on base what seemed like every inning, but when we need a really big hit we didn’t get it and hopefully that changes soon.”
The Mavericks (3-5) ended the day with 13 runners left on base while the Islanders (6-2) only had five LOB in the game. UTA scored its nine runs on 16 hits with one error will AMCC scored twelve runs on 19 hits with one error.
UT Arlington got on the board early in the game as Jackson Morris hit a single to right field that brought in Matt McLean, giving UTA a one-run lead. The Mavs extended their lead in the inning as a walk made room for Travis Sibley to cross the plate.
UTA was able to add to its lead in the second when Morris recorded his second hit of the day that made room for McLean to cross the plate and put the Mavs on top 3-0.
The Mavericks looked to be in trouble in the bottom of the second as the Islanders put runners on first and second with just one out. However, Eric Tate came up big defensively for UTA as the senior infielder caught
a line ball to third base and then tossed it to Sibley at second for a double play to end the inning.
While UT Arlington was able to get out of a jam in the second inning, the third inning was a different story as the Islanders were able to put four runs on the board to take a one-run lead into the fourth inning. The runs marked the first of the season given up by Chad Nack, who entered the weekend with a 0.00 ERA in two outings this season.
The Mavericks regained control of the game in the fifth inning when Tate hit a deep double just out of reach of the center fielder that brought in RJ Williams to tie the game at four runs apiece. In the next at bat, Cody Farrell hit a single through the right side that returned the lead to UTA at 5-4.
AMCC used back to back triples in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at five runs. The Islanders looked to record their third straight triple with a hit to the right field wall, but Cody Farrell and RJ Williams were impressive on the relay to Tate, recording the second out of the inning. The Mavericks ended the fifth inning trailing 6-5.
The back and forth continued into the sixth inning as Levi Scott registered his second hit of the day with a deep double that bounced off the center field wall. Scott then relied on a Williams single to left field to cross the plate and tie the game up at six runs.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi took a one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth when it used a two-out single to left field to bring in one run. The run forced the Mavericks to make their first pitching change of the day, bringing in Jacob Moreland for Nack. Nack’s day ended with four strikeouts and 12 hits in his 5.2 innings on the mound.
The Mavericks made one final push in the eighth inning when a walk paired with singles by Morris and Williams loaded the bases with no outs on the board. Olson then came to the plate and hit a high-flying single to shallow left field that pushed Scott past home plate. In the next at bat, Tate grounded into a double play, but was still able to bring in the tying run as Morris crossed the plate.
A&M-Corpus Christi then used a decisive four-run eighth inning to take a 12-8 lead into the game’s final inning.
UTA looked to rally late in the game, scoring one run when a Scott single brought in Tanner Houston to cut the lead to three runs.Scott ended the day 3-of-4 at the plate with two runs scored and one RBI. However, it was too little too late as a strikeout ended the game with UT Arlington on the wrong end of a 12-9 decision.
The Mavs will return to action on Saturday when they take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the second game of the series with first pitch slated for 2 p.m. Weather postponed the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, forcing the two teams to double up on Sunday starting at 10 a.m.
