Feb. 19, 2010
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington lost its season opener 13-2 to No. 40 Dallas Baptist on Friday afternoon at Clay Gould Ballpark. The Patriots had four players hit home runs as they kept the Mavericks from tying a school record with three straight Opening Day victories.
UT Arlington plated the first runs of the game on a pair of wild pitches in the third inning. The Patriots answered with six runs (four unearned) in the top of the fourth. Dallas Baptist sent 10 batters to the plate as they posted four hits and capitalized on a dropped fly ball by left fielder Bryant Lopez, which eventually allowed four runs to score.
UT Arlington starter Jason Mitchell took the loss allowing seven hits and six runs in 4.0 innings of work while striking out four. Brandon Williamson collected the win for DBU after throwing 6.0 innings and allowing five hits and two runs with four strikeouts. Jared Stafford pitched the game's final three innings and struck out four while earning the save.
The Patriots had at least one base hit in every inning but the fifth inning while six players finished with a multi-hit game. Austin Knight (2-for-3, 2 RBI), Ryan Enos (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) and Tyler Robbins (3-for-5, RBI) were among the top hitters for Dallas Baptist.
Junior shortstop Jesse Payne went 2-for-4 in his first NCAA Division I game and was the only Maverick with a multi-hit game. Michael Choice went 1-for-4 with a single through the left side in the third inning.
UT Arlington and Dallas Baptist will close their weekend series with a doubleheader at Patriot Field Saturday, Feb. 20, starting at 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
UT Arlington drops its first Opening Day game since a 9-4 loss against No. 7 Texas in 2007... UT Arlington is now 19-23 all-time on Opening Day with a 10-9 record on Opening Day in Arlington.
The Mavericks fall to 26-15 in home openers and drop just their fourth home opener in the past 11 years.
The loss marked the largest run differential in an Opening Day loss since falling 13-0 at Texas in 1985.
The Mavericks drop to 27-27 all-time against Dallas Baptist and have lost five in a row in the series dating back to March 1, 2007.... UT Arlington's last win over Dallas Baptist was a 13-3 victory in Arlington on May 20, 2006.
Jesse Payne went 2-for-4 to record his first career multi-hit game at the NCAA Division I level... It marked the first Maverick player to post a multi-hit game in his Maverick debut since Michael Choice went 2-for-4 in his debut on Opening Day against Arkansas-Little Rock in 2008 (2/22/08)... Payne (North Central Texas College) is the first transfer to record a multi-hit game in his Maverick debut since Leo radkowski went 2-for-4 on Opening Day in 2007 at No. 7 Texas (2/6/07).
Michael Choice's single through the left side in the third inning extended his career-high hit streak to 13 games... Choice entered the season with a 12-game streak where he finished the season with a .500 batting average in the final 12 games of the season.
Jordan Vaughn recorded his first career hit with a double down the right field line to lead off the bottom of the third inning.
Jason Mitchell is the first Maverick pitcher to make consecutive starts on Opening Day since Dillon Gee (2006-07).
Preston Beck recorded his first collegiate base hit with an infield single in the bottom of the third inning.
Steffan Guest tallied a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth inning... Guest now has a two-game hit streak after also recording a pinch-hit single last season in his only at-bat... Guest broke his hand earlier in the at-bat before hitting a single through the right side in the ninth inning against No. 11 TCU (3/3/09).
