June 2, 2009
ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington baseball team finished its season leading the Southland Conference in team ERA and tied for the league lead in fielding percentage. Senior outfielder Matt Otteman won the SLC batting championship with a .432 batting average and also led the conference with eight triples. Senior right-handed pitcher Nathan Long broke a school record and led the SLC with 104 strikeouts. Overall, the Mavericks had three of the top four hitters (batting average) and three of the top nine pitchers (ERA) in the SLC.
UT Arlington was one of six teams in the SLC to finishes its campaign with a 30-win season (30-26) and led the league in ERA (4.38) and tied with SLC tournament champion Sam Houston State for the best fielding percentage (.971).
The only other time UT Arlington led the SLC in ERA was in 1988 (4.59) and their 4.38 ERA marked the lowest team total since 2004 (4.03). Long (3.76) and Ryan Robinson (3.89) ranked sixth and eighth, respectively, and sophomore Rett Varner (3.95) ranked ninth in the SLC in ERA.
Long's school-record 104th strikeout came on his final pitch of the season in the SLC Tournament against Stephen F. Austin for his eighth strikeout of the game. Long's strikeout total was 18 more than the next highest on the SLC strikeout list (Red Patterson, 86 - UTSA). It is the first time a UTA pitcher has led the conference in strikeouts since Doug Myres posted a league-leading 82 in 1986.
The Mavericks have now led the SLC in fielding four times (2009, 2005, 1995, 1993) with a .971 fielding percentage in 2009 that ranks third in UT Arlington history. The Mavs' 1993 and 2005 squads recorded a school-record .972 fielding percentage.
Otteman becomes the eighth UT Arlington hitter to win an SLC batting crown with a .432 (95-for-220) batting average. It is the second highest average in school history (Trey Hillman, .442 - 1985) and third best batting average in SLC history. His season average is the best by a Southland Conference hitter in 16 years, following Northwestern State's Kyle Shade who set the conference record with a .453 average in 1993.
Otteman's eight triples rank second in school history (Rusty Jones, 11 - 1979) and are the third highest season total in the SLC since 1998. Otteman finished his senior season ranking in several SLC top 10 statistical categories, including base hits (95 - 4th), RBI (69 - 2nd), total bases (153 - 4th), slugging percentage (.695 - 3rd) and on-base percentage (.478 - 4th). In addition, Otteman led the SLC during league competition with a .441 batting average (56-for-127).
In addition, among the most impressive statistics for the Mavericks in 2009 belonged to sophomore catcher Chad Comer who threw out 43 percent (29-of-67) of would-be base stealers.
Southland Conference Batting Champions - UTA Players
2009: Matt Otteman (.432)
2004: Hunter Pence (.395)
2003: Ryan Roberts (.422)
1991: Jose Rubiera (.402)
1985: Trey Hillman (.442) *
1984: Todd Cox (.396)
1973: Lawrence Hicks (.362)
1971: Terry Twomey (.390)
* UT Arlington all-time record
Southland Conference Triples Leaders - UTA Players
2009: Matt Otteman (8)
2002: Daniel Ortmeier (7)
1993: Clay Gould (7)
1988: Pat Woodruff (5)
1988: Howard Prager (5)
1985: Dave Zech (5)
1981: Randy Thorpe (7)
1980: Richard Valenta (4)
Southland Conference Strikeout Leaders - UTA Pitchers
2009: Nathan Long (104)*
1986: Doug Myres (82)
* UT Arlington all-time record
UTA Players in SLC Top 5 Statistical Categories:
BATTING AVERAGE
1. Matt Otteman (.432)
3. Andrew Kainer (.419)
4. Michael Choice (.413)
HITS
4. Matt Otteman (95)
5. Michael Choice (93)
RUNS
5. Michael Choice (64)
RBI
2. Matt Otteman (69)
DOUBLES
2. Andrew Kainer (23)
TRIPLES
1. Matt Otteman (8)
TOTAL BASES
4. Matt Otteman (153)
STRIKEOUTS
1. Nathan Long (104)
SLUGGING PERCENTAGE
3. Matt Otteman (.695)
ON-BASE PERCENTAGE
2. Michael Choice (.492)
4. Matt Otteman (.478)
5. Andrew Kainer (.474)
HIT BY PITCH
T-5. Jay Pitschka (13)
SAVES
4. Adam Boydston (9)
OPPOSING BATTING AVERAGE
2. Andy Sauter (.257)
APPEARANCES
T-5. Adam Boydston (29)
GAMES IN RELIEF
T-4. Adam Boydston (29)
INNINGS PITCHED
4. Nathan Long (93.1)
GAMES STARTED
T-2. Nathan Long (14)
RUNNERS PICKED OFF
T-2. Jason Mitchell (4)
T-4. Adam Boydston (3)
