UTA Baseball Loses To Georgia State
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ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington forced extra innings with a two-run inning in the eighth, but was unable to pick up the victory as it fell to Georgia State 6-4 at Clay Gould Ballpark on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks (12-13, 4-3 Sun Belt) were 8-of-38 in the box while the Panthers (16-12, 5-2 Sun Belt) were able to go 15-of-44 behind the plate.
“It was a good ball game,” UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. “We had chances, just like they did. When the game was on the line they got the hits when it mattered and we didn’t, but that’s not to say we can’t get better. It’s no secret what our problem is, we’re just not scoring enough runs. We’ve got to keep at it and hopefully some of those hits fall in.”
Brad Vassar went six innings as the starter for the Mavericks, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out five.
“He got better as the game went on,” Thomas said. “I thought he did a really good job. I thought we did everything we could to win it, but when we didn’t win it after the tenth it was going to be tough.”
Christian Hollie paced the Mavericks offensively as the freshman outfielder went 2-of-3 with one RBI and one run scored. Jerame Littell and Travis Sibley also chipped in as the duo each registered a pair of hits.
With the Panthers holding a one-run lead for the first three innings of the game, the Mavericks responded with a two-run fourth inning to take their first lead of the series. A pair of walks to lead off the inning put runners on with no outs. Brady Cox then laid down a bunt that loaded the bases as the GSU pitcher was unable to make
the play at third.
One day removed from a difficult showing with runners in scoring position, UTA made the most of its fourth-inning opportunity as it used a sacrifice fly by RJ Williams to bring in the tying run. After a Maverick ground out forced the second out of the inning, Hollie hit a high-flying ball that landed in shallow left field for an RBI single to put the Mavs on top 2-1.
The Panthers regained control of the lead in the seventh as they registered a three-run inning to take a 4-2 lead.
UT Arlington tied the game back up in the eighth with a two-run inning courtesy of a Georgia State error. Hollie started things off with his stand-up triple to right field with one out. In the next at bat, Dalton DeLeon brought Hollie in with his sacrifice fly to center field. Matt McLean kept things going as he hit a two-out single to shallow left field. After McLean advanced to second on a stolen base, Sibley stepped in the box and hit a ball at the Panther third baseman who was unable to make a clean play on the ball. The error by GSU resulted in McLean crossing the plate to tie up the game at five runs.
Georgia State was able to jump ahead for the final time in the top of the eleventh when a single and a double set the stage for a sacrifice fly to bring in the go-ahead run. The Panthers added one more for insurance later in the inning with a RBI single to center field.
The Panther’s Logan Barnette (2-0) was credited with the win in his 0.2 innings on the mound. The Mavericks’ Colin Tornberg (1-1) was tabbed with the loss, allowing four hits and two earned runs while fanning two.
UTA’s four runs came off of eight hits without any errors. GSU notched its six runs with 15 hits while committing one error.
The Mavericks will wrap up their three-game series with the Panthers on Sunday with first pitch scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
