UTA Sweeps UALR

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ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington relied on an impactful pitching performance and 12 hits to close out its series sweep with a 7-2 victory over UALR on Sunday afternoon.

“That was obviously a good weekend for us,” UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. “We needed it and we talked about it Wednesday at practice for a long time about how we needed to get going and play better. The guys responded and I’m really proud of how we played. We played well when we needed to and we need to keep it up for the rest of the year and see what happens.”

The win pushes the Mavericks to 20-26 on the season with an 11-13 mark in conference play, while the Trojans fall to 14-28 overall with a Sun Belt record of 10-13. UTA outscored UALR by 21 runs over the three-game series which is the Mavs largest margin of victory in a series sweep since 2005 when UTA outscored UT Pan American by 24 runs.

A weighty reason for the Mavericks victory was Joel Kuhnel (3-2) who kept the Trojan batters in check. The sophomore right-handed pitcher allowed five hits and no earned runs in his eight innings on the mound, while

also striking out seven. Kuhnel retired the first seven batters of the game before allowing a UALR batter to reach base. The Peoria, Ariz. native headlined a UTA pitching staff that walked no batters over the three-game series.

“We’ve done a good job of throwing strikes,” Thomas said. “We came in with the least amount of walks in the Sun Belt and we didn’t walk a guy all weekend. When you don’t walk somebody in this park it’s tough to score. When you’re not walking people your defense plays better behind you because they’re ready for the ball to be put in play. To go 27 innings without walking a guy is kind of unheard of and I’m very proud of them.”

UTA was led offensively by Darien McLemore who went 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI. Christian Hollie also made his presence known with a 2-for-4 outing that included a pair of RBI.

For the third straight game, UTA jumped out to an early lead with a three-run first inning. The Mavs were able to reach base in five straight plate appearances after coming up empty in their first two at-bats. With a Levi Scott walk and McLemore single putting two on, Eric Tate delivered with a two-RBI double to left field. Jackson Morris’ single in the next at bat brought in the final run of the inning to give UTA a three-run advantage.

Singles by Scott and McLemore put two runners on with no outs in the third, but a line out and a foul out made it look as though the Mavericks would come up empty. Hollie removed any doubt with his two-out, two-RBI double to left-center field that put UT Arlington up by five runs.

The Mavs extended their lead by two runs in the sixth with an RBI single by Travis Sibley and an RBI ground out by McLemore.

UALR made a late push in the ninth inning, bringing a pair of runs across, but it was too little too late as the Mavericks held on for a 7-2 victory.

The sweep pushes UT Arlington into seventh place, just one game behind sixth-place Texas State. The top eight teams in the Sun Belt will quailfy for the Sun Belt Conference Championship held in Troy, Ala. on May 20-24.

“Your job is to get in and this more than any other year, from last to first place, there’s not a big gap,” Thomas added. “Last year Lafayette was head and shoulders above everybody else and we finished second. This year an 11-18 team is not going to get in because everybody is winning. Anybody can beat anybody. It’s one of those years where you just get in and see what happens.”

The Mavericks will return to action on Tuesday night when they travel to take on No. 15 Dallas Baptist. First pitch at Horner Ballpark is slated for 6:30 p.m.

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