March 14, 2015 Final Stats
By Paul Watley | @WatP7
ARLINGTON, Texas - One day removed from a difficult day at the plate, the UT Arlington bats came alive Saturday afternoon in a 7-0 victory over South Alabama at Clay Gould Ballpark.
"Obviously the grand slam got us off to a good start, but it was a tough day to pitch," UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. "With the wind blowing, you have to play the outfielders a little deeper than normal. It's kind of a rare day here. You don't get many days with the wind blowing out, but we got five runs early and that was enough."
The Mavericks (8-7, 3-2 SBC) recorded 10 hits in their 30 at-bats, while holding the Jaguars (12-7, 3-2) to hitting just .156 in the box.
On the mound, the Mavs relied on the pitching duo of freshmen Brad Vassar and Kyle Laberge to get through the day, allowing just five hits and no earned runs while fanning five. Vassar (2-2) went five innings with three hits allowed and one strikeout in the win. Laberge went four innings in relief with two hits allowed, while striking out four Jaguars in picking up his first career save.
"Our two freshmen did a good job of hanging zeros," Thomas added. "I thought it was going to be a very offensive day for both clubs, and Brad did everything he could for five innings and then Kyle came in and was really good the last four innings. Hopefully this will give us a little momentum going into tomorrow."
The Mavericks shook off their offensive rust from Friday night early in the second game of the series as a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with Brady Cox at the plate. Cox came up big with his first career home run, a shot over the left-field wall for the grand slam. Cox was 1-of-2 at the plate with four RBI and one run scored.
Jerame Littell joined the home run club in the next at-bat notching his first homer of the season with a solo shot to left to give the Mavs a 5-0 lead in the first. Littell's day ended with him going 1-of-3 at the plate with one RBI and one run, while also being walked once.
UTA extended its lead by one run in the third inning when Travis Sibley hit a single to left center field that made way for Jackson Morris to cross the plate and put the Mavs on top 6-0. The Mavs also added one run for good measure in the seventh inning when Levi Scott hit a single to left field that brought in Matt McLean.
Morris and McLean helped pace the UTA offense as the juniors both recorded two hits each. Morris had one double and two runs scored in his five at-bats, while McLean came away with one double and one run scored in four at-bats.
The Mavericks will wrap up their three-game series against the Jaguars at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
