April 26, 2003
NACOGDOCHES, Texas...The University of Texas at Arlington softball squad clinched the Southland Conference regular season title after defeating Stephen F. Austin, 15-5, in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. It is UTA's first conference title since 1989 and the first for head coach Debbie Nichols-Hedrick. The Lady Mavericks will enter the SLC tournament as the No. 1 seed.
UTA struck early in game one, plating six runs in the first two frames before the Ladyjacks battled back to within two after pitcher Devin Cobb hit a three-run homerun in the bottom of the third.
The Lady Mavs continued to put runs on the board in the fifth after pinch runner April Jones scored on an error by the 'Jacks shortstop and senior Ali Lommel crossed the plate on a Jenna Fortune RBI single up the middle.
A Falon Kwasnick walk and a Melanie Williams single started the top of the sixth for the Lady Mavs. Autumn Petrino followed with a RBI single before designated player Beverly Rowan was intentionally walked with no outs to load the bases. A Lommel single and a sacrifice fly by Fortune plated the final two runs in the inning and gave the Lady Mavs an 11-4 lead.
UTA didn't stop there, plating four runs in the seventh frame to make the final margin 15-5.
The Lady Mavs connected for a season high 18 hits in the game, with five players collecting at least one extra base hit.
Freshman Jill Garro earned the win after 4.1 innings in relief. Garro improved to 12-8 on the year as she struck out two and allowed only one run. UTA starter Katy Cox was touched for three hits and four runs (three earned) in 2.2 innings of work.
UTA struggled in game two of the afternoon, trying to overcome a Ladyjack two run first inning. SFA would add three more runs to take a 5-0 lead into the top of the sixth. The Lady Mavs attempted to rally, and cut the deficit to three runs, but it wasn't enough as SFA handed UTA only its fourth conference loss of the year.
The final margin was 5-2 as SFA scored five runs on seven hits and five Lady Maverick errors. UTA managed only four hits off SFA starter Crissy Autry. Autry improved to 11-14 on the year.
Garro took the loss for UTA, falling to 12-9.
The Lady Mavericks will return to the Coy Simms Softball Complex tomorrow afternoon for the final game of this SLC three game series. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
...utamavericks..
