April 12, 2015 Final Stats
By Paul Watley | @WatP7
STATESBORO, Ga. - A strong performance on the mound and at the plate gave UT Arlington an 8-3 victory in the series finale against Georgia Southern on Sunday afternoon.
"That was an outstanding start by Joel Kuhnel," UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. "He maintained his velocity for eight innings. We scored some runs for him early and added to it a little bit. I thought RJ Williams' home run was a big hit to get us to eight, but I can't say enough about Joel's outing. Those are the type of outings you need when you're struggling. You need a pitcher to pick you up and he did that for us. We scored enough to win and we needed it."
One day removed from a 4-of-32 performance at the plate, the Mavericks (15-19, 6-9 Sun Belt) bounced back with a 10-hit outing that brought in eight runs. The Eagles (21-16, 11-7 Sun Belt) recorded just five hits on the day, resulting in three runs.
UTA received an impressive outing from Kuhnel (2-1), who allowed four hits and three earned runs in his eight innings on the mound. Kuhnel struck out six, while at one point retiring 13 straight Eagle batters.
"Joel just made a couple of mistakes and they hit them out of the yard," Thomas added. "He gave up four hits and was just dominate. He left a couple off-speed pitches over the plate and they deposited it, but other than that he was dominate and he really took a lot of pressure off of us."
Pacing UTA offensively was freshman RJ Williams, who ended the day 2-of-4 with three RBI and one run scored. Tanner Houston also stepped up his game with a 2-of-4 outing that included two RBI and one double.
The Mavericks got things rolling offensively in the opening frame with a two-out double that pushed a pair of runs across. With two outs on the board and the bases empty, Levi Scott started the offensive outpouring with a single to the shortstop. After Cody Farrell was hit by a pitch, Tanner Houston stepped into the box and rocketed the ball to the left-field wall for a RBI double that put UTA on top 2-0.
The Eagles were able to tie the game back up in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run shot over the right field wall.
The outburst at the plate continued for UTA in the second inning with four runs with three extra-base hits to take a 6-2 lead. Williams brought in the first run of the inning when his stand-up double to right-center field pushed Darien McLemore across the plate. Brady Cox matched Williams' double with one of his own that brought in one more run. A throwing error allowed one more to cross and put Matt McLean on second with no outs. Travis Sibley was able to notch his first hit of the day with a RBI double down the left field line.
A solo shot by the Eagles in the bottom of the third cut the Mavericks lead to three runs at 6-3.
After a pair of scoreless innings for UTA, Williams came up big with his first career home run over the left field wall. Williams shot brought a pair of runs across to extend the Mavericks lead to five runs at 8-3.
The Mavericks will return to action on Tuesday night as they take on No. 3 TCU at Clay Gould Ballpark with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available at UTATickets.com or by calling 817-272-9595.
