April 1, 2009
Box Score
FORT WORTH, Texas - Sophomore Michael Choice went 3-for-4 collecting all but one of UT Arlington's base hits in a 2-1 loss against No. 22 TCU on Wednesday night in Fort Worth at Lupton Stadium. The Horned Frogs came back to tie the score in the sixth and won the game on a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to knock off the Mavericks for the second time this season.
Senior Matt Otteman was attempting to break the all-time UT Arlington hitting streak record - after tying the 26-game hit streak record last Sunday - but came up short going 0-for-3 with an intentional walk (fourth inning) as UT Arlington falls to 15-12 overall. TCU improves to 16-9 overall and to 9-6 at Lupton Stadium this season.
Choice was the story for UT Arlington, recording base hits in his final three at-bats and scoring the Mavericks only run on an RBI groundout by Chad Comer in the fourth inning to give the Mavs a 1-0 lead.
It wasn't the first time Choice has had success against the Horned Frogs this season after going 4-for-5 against then-No. 11 TCU in Arlington (March 3) earlier this season. Choice is now 7-for-9 against TCU this season and is 14-for-25 (.560) in six games this season against nationally-ranked opponents.
The Mavericks used four pitchers in the contest, with sophomore left-handed pitcher Mark Picca throwing 3.0 scoreless innings to start the game for UT Arlington. Drew Clementz pitched the fourth and fifth innings allowing just one hit before TCU tallied a run off sophomore reliever Adam Boydston in the sixth.
With TCU second baseman Taylor Featherston at second base after reaching on an infield single and advancing to second base on a balk, Matt Carpenter drove in Featherston on an infield single to the shortstop with Featherston running on the pitch to tie the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the ninth inning when catcher Jimmie Pharr scored Featherston on a sacrifice fly to end the game.
Senior Jay Pitschka was the only other Maverick to record a base hit as UT Arlington was out-hit 7-4. TCU reliever Trent Appleby earned his second win of the season pitching 1.1 innings in relief while junior Jason Mitchell was the losing pitcher throwing 1.1 innings for the Mavericks.
UT Arlington will return to Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington this weekend hosting Southeastern Louisiana for a three-game Southland Conference series. The Mavericks (8-4) and Lions (8-4) are currently in a three-way tie for first place in the SLC with Texas State. The series is schedule to begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. and will continue on Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).
