April 13, 2004
Box Score
ARLINGTON, Texas - The University of Texas at Arlington pitching staff turned in a solid performance as Grant Varnell, Blake Pierson and Michael Snapp combined to throw a five hit shutout as the Mavericks defeated Oklahoma State 1-0 Tuesday evening at Clay Gould Ballpark.
After being removed from the weekend rotation last week, Varnell (3-3) came out and silenced the Pokes as he allowed only four hits in six innings of work, while striking out three. He ran into trouble in the sixth inning as a hit batter and a single by Josh Fields put two runners on with one out. He was able to get out of the jam as he got All-American candidate Jason Jaramillo to pop up to third baseman and a popout to second off the bat of Scott Kirby.
Pierson came on for the seventh and eighth innings and allowed only one hit and struck out two.
The tight game set the stage for the closer, Snapp, to retire all three batters he faced in the ninth inning. The save for Snapp was the seventh of the season and 18th of his career, tying him with Jason Watkins for the all-time record at UTA with 18 saves. The appearance was also his 115th of his career putting him 15th on the NCAA all-time list.
This evening's game marks the first time that the Cowboys have been shutout this season and is the second shutout for the Mavericks pitching staff in the last four games. It is also the third straight time that UTA and OSU have played a one-run game with the Pokes winning earlier this season 7-6 and last season 3-2, both games played in Stillwater.
The only run of the game came in the sixth inning when Aaron Batlle started things with a single up the middle and Darrell Preston followed with a single to right field. After Paul Bruder's unsuccessful sacrifice bunt, Ryan Nelson singled through the left side to load the bases with one out. Daniel Mach knocked in the run with a groundout to the first baseman.
Daniel Rew (4-4) was the tough luck loser for the Cowboys as he allowed the one run on seven hits in seven innings of work.
Preston led the offense with his second straight 3-for-3 performance and raised his average to .404 on the season. Batle added two hits in the game.
The Mavericks return to action tomorrow evening as they travel to Fort Worth to take on TCU. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Lupton Stadium.
