April 10, 2011
Final Stats
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ARLINGTON, Tex. - UT Arlington needed an offensive boost in the worst way Sunday afternoon against Southeastern Louisiana.
Preston Beck provided it during UTA's 4-3 victory at Clay Gould Ballpark.
The Mavericks right fielder tied the game in the sixth with a two-RBI double and added insurance in the eighth with a solo home run in the eighth. Beck finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI.
"We're not going to put any pressure on him, but that's what we need out of him," UTA coach Darin Thomas said. "He's our guy right now with Michael Guerra out. These other guys have to step up and help us score runs until we get Mike back."
Before Beck's two-run double, the Mavs (17-15, 8-7) had managed just one run over the previous 22 innings. His shot injected life into a UT Arlington team that had dropped the first two games of the series.
The Mavs also received tremendous outings from the bullpen.
Calan Pritchard, Michael Morales and Adam Boydston combined to hold the Lions to two hits and one unearned runs over the final 6.0 innings.
Pritchard picked up the win, his second of the season, by throwing 4.0 innings of shutout ball, allowing one hit and striking out three. Morales lasted 1.2 innings, giving up an unearned run in the ninth on what could have been a game-ending double play.
Boydston came in and struck out Britt Gauetreaux with the tying run on second base to win the game, earning his sixth save of the season.
"Today was the most important game of the year," Thomas said. "It was the first time we've been faced with an 0-2 start to the weekend where we had to come back and salvage a game to not get swept. It's easy when you're playing a good team that's on a roll to go in and lay down and I'm proud of our guys for not doing that."
UT Arlington did not score until the sixth, when it scored three of its four runs. The Mavericks chased SLU starter Josh Janway from the game in the fifth when Nick Orr led off with a double and Ryan Walker followed with another hit.
Preston Beck greeted SLU reliever Joseph Koon by doubling down the right-field line to drive in Orr and Walker, tying the game at 2.
Jesse Payne broke the tie two batters later when his sacrifice fly to center field drove home Beck.
Koon (2-4) took the loss in relief for the Lions, who managed just four hits.
Southeastern scored two of its runs in the third. Justin Boudreaux started the scoring with an RBI single drove home Jacob Fisher, who reached on a one-out error. Jonathan Pace followed with a sacrifice fly to score Brock Hebert, giving the Lions a 2-0 lead.
Chad Comer added three hits for the Mavericks.
UT Arlington plays again Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. when it hosts Baylor at Clay Gould Ballpark.
