SB: Mavs open fall slate with games vs. TWU
10/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Michael Eldridge | @DFWSportsMike
ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington softball opened up its fall slate on Tuesday, hosting a pair of scrimmages against Texas Wesleyan at Allan Saxe Field.
"I think that overall they did a good job," UT Arlington coach Kristie Fox said. "It is good to just get those competitive juices going and let some of that aggression out on other pitchers instead of ours. We have a lot of new people, so there are a little bit of those jitters at the beginning but overall it was a good day for us."
Opening against the first of four opponents it will see this fall, UTA mixed and matched its lineup against the Rams to give the freshmen an opportunity to face competition.
It was a freshman that got UTA on the board first as Brianna Burchianti got just enough of the pitch to see the ball bounce off the top of the wall for a two-run homer. Bryanna Datko waitied until Game 2 for the Mavs' next shot as she would round the bases in a two-hit game.
The Mavericks were able to rotate their pitching staff in the two games, allowing each to see two innings of action.
In the first game, UTA's trio of regular starters from last season got in on the action. Kayla Donaldson and Sam Montes each threw two innings, allowing just three hits combined. Taylor Simmonds allowed just one earned run. In the second contest it was a freshmen duo of Brooklynne Simbeck and Samantha Clackley that got 3.2 innings of work. The pair did not give up a hit in the circle.
"They did a good job," Fox said. "The runs that were scored we didn't play defense behind them. We have things to work on like walks, illegal pitches and making sure we are fielding our position. They all went two innings today and they looked really strong but we are going to have to start stretching them out a little bit more and work on their endurance."
UTA continues its schedule on Thursday when it hosts Ranger Community College at 2:30 p.m. at Allan Saxe Field.
