March 2, 2010
Box Score
NORMAN, Okla. - UT Arlington center fielder Michael Choice went 2-for-4 with a triple in the Mavericks 4-3 loss at No. 17 Oklahoma on Tuesday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Sooners (7-1) were led by third baseman Garrett Buechele, who went 2-for-4 and drove in all of the Sooners runs with a three-run homer and an RBI single to lead Oklahoma to a victory in their home debut. UT Arlington drops to 2-5 on the season.
Choice tripled off the right-center field wall to lead off the top of the ninth inning and scored a batter later on senior Steffan Guest's RBI double to left-center field. Oklahoma closer Ryan Duke then settled down and retired the next three batters to tally his fourth save of the season.
UT Arlington freshman Preston Beck was the losing pitcher while making his collegiate debut pitching 4.0 innings while giving up four hits, three runs and a walk with four strikeouts.
After the Mavericks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, Oklahoma struck in the bottom half of the inning on a three-run homer by Buechele to left field. Buechele wasn't done as he drove in the Sooners final run of the game with a single to center field in the fifth inning to put Oklahoma ahead 4-2.
The Mavericks cut the Sooners lead to one when Lopez drove in Cody Dyvig with an RBI single up the middle in the sixth inning. Dyvig collected his first career extra-base hit to lead off the inning with a double down the right field line.
The Mavericks led off four innings with an extra base hit and all ended up scoring except Daniel Jordan who led off the eighth inning with a double to center field and was stranded at second base.
Choice was the only Maverick who finished with a multi-hit game as five other Mavericks recorded a base hit.
Oklahoma starting pitcher Ryan Gibson was the winning pitcher improving to 2-0 on the season. Gibson went 7.0 innings while allowing four hits, two runs (one earned) with one walk and four strikeouts.
UT Arlington will open a 10-game homestand on Thursday, March 4, hosting BYU for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch at Clay Gould Ballpark. The Mavericks and Cougars will play at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and close the series with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday.
GAME NOTES:
UT Arlington falls to 9-18 all-time against Oklahoma with the Sooners leading 11-3 in games played in Norman... Oklahoma has won five of the last six meetings with the Mavericks winning last season 8-5 against the then-No. 17 Sooners in Arlington... Oklahoma has won four straight over UT Arlington in Norman.
The Mavericks fall to 0-3 on the road this season... UTA is 0-5 when its starting pitcher fails to pitch five innings... four of the Mavericks seven games played this season have come against a nationally-ranked opponent... UTA has played in three one-run games this season (1-2)... it was the Mavericks first midweek game of the season... the Mavericks were 9-9 in midweek games in 2009... first-pitch temperature was 46 degrees with an 8 MPH wind... it was only the second game this season the Mavericks have played with a first-pitch temperature lower than 50 degrees (41 degrees vs. Missouri State, 2/26)... the Mavericks didn't play in any games with a first-pitch temperature below 50 degrees in 2009... Tuesday's game ended in 2 hours and 22 minutes, marking the shortest game (time) of the season... the longest game (time) the Mavericks have played in this season was against Missouri State (2/26) which lasted 3 hours and 33 minutes and was the coldest game at 41 degrees at first pitch.
The Mavericks had their streak of three straight games without giving up a home run snapped on Buechele's three-run homer in the third inning... UTA's pitching staff now has a streak of five straight games where they have not allowed more than four walks... the Mavericks have recorded at least one extra-base hit in every game this season.
Tuesday marked just the second time the Maverick have played Oklahoma in their home opener... The last time Oklahoma hosted UT Arlington for its home opener was the first time these teams met on March 7, 1972... Oklahoma won the first meeting 9-3.
Steffan Guest's double in the ninth inning extended his career-high hit streak to eight games... Guest has a base hit in every game this season and singled in his only at-bat last season.
Freshmen Daniel Jordan and Cody Dyvig each collected their first career extra-base hit on Tuesday... Dyvig led off the sixth inning with a double down the right field line and Jordan led off the eighth inning with a double to center field.
Michael Choice hit his seventh career triple to lead off the ninth inning... Choice is three triples shy of tying a list of five Mavericks for ninth place on the all-time career list.
Michael Choice now has 28 career multi-hit games, including three this season... it was his 12th career multi-hit game against a nationally-ranked opponent.
Michael Choice is now batting .459 (34-for-74) in his career against nationally-ranked opponents.
Michael Choice is batting .385 (5-for-13) with five runs, a double, triple and home run with four RBI against Oklahoma in his career. In 2008, Choice went 2-for-5 with a double, home run and two RBI against Oklahoma in Norman... last season Choice went 1-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and two RBI in Arlington.
