March 5, 2009
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
ARLINGTON, Texas - Senior Matt Otteman went 3-for-4 with two RBI while leading the UT Arlington baseball team to a 7-1 win over Iowa Wesleyan on Thursday night at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington. Senior right-handed pitcher Drew Clementz earned his second win of the season as the Mavericks improve to 5-5 overall, before the start of conference play this weekend with a trip to Sam Houston State. The loss drops the Tigers to 9-9 overall on the season.
Otteman, who improved his hit streak to 10 games, reached base with a bunt single to lead off the second, a single through the left side in the third and with a two-run triple to center field in the fifth inning.
"I'm just trying to see the ball and get my front foot down," Otteman said. "Pitchers are going to throw me away, so I'm going to look to hit the ball into the right-center gap, and if they pitch me inside I just trust my hands and hit the ball where it is pitched."
Otteman is currently leading the Mavericks in batting average (.450), doubles (5), triples (3), slugging percentage (.725), on-base percentage (.477) and is tied for the lead in base hits (18).
"Matt has been hitting well all year long for us," head coach Darin Thomas said. "It is going to be extremely important to have him continue to help us offensively."
The Mavericks scored their first two runs on two balls that never left the infield. Senior Ryan Davis hit a ground ball to third that was then dropped at second base in an attempt to force out Jeff Storms, as Davis earned the RBI scoring Andrew Kainer. Later in the inning, Chad Price scored Storms on a fielder's choice to the third baseman to give the Mavs a 2-0 lead.
Clementz pitched five innings for the Mavs, and escaped three times with Tiger base runner stranded on third base. Clementz allowed five base hits and struck out two batters. He has now made three appearances and pitched in 13 innings without allowing an earned run.
Kainer also finished with three hits (3-for-4) with a double, two singles and an RBI. Kainer drove in Otteman with a single up the middle to give UT Arlington a 5-0 advantage after five innings.
The Mavericks' bullpen pitched four innings allowing two hits, one run (no earned runs) with four strikeouts. Sophomore Adam Boydston pitched 2.2 innings, allowing two hits with two strikeouts and senior Ryan Martin tallied 1.1 innings without allowing a hit and posted two strikeouts.
Seniors Preston McCoy (2-for-4) and Chad Price (2-for-3) also recorded multi-hit games for UT Arlington. Iowa Wesleyan was led offensively by second baseman Frany Cruz, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Tigers' starting pitcher Hector Acevedo pitched 7.0 innings, allowing 13 hits, seven runs (five earned) with no walks and three strikeouts.
The Mavericks begin conference play tomorrow, traveling to play two-time defending Southland Conference Tournament champion Sam Houston State for a three-game series in Huntsville at Don Sanders Stadium. Friday's first pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.
"We are excited, this is conference starting up," Otteman said. "We are ready to play, I think we will come out with some energy and play well."
"Sam Houston is very good, they just beat Rice," Thomas said. "They have made a (NCAA) Regional two year in a row and are very well coached. They have some great players. It is going to be tough, but I'd rather play them the first weekend than later on."
