April 14, 2015
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By Paul Watley | @WatP7
ARLINGTON, Texas - Squaring off with No. 6 TCU at Clay Gould Ballpark on Tuesday night, UT Arlington ended on the wrong side of a 7-1 decision.
The Mavericks (15-20, 6-9 Sun Belt) recorded three hits in the matchup, bringing in the lone run in the eighth inning. The Horned Frogs (27-9, 6-5 Big 12) got to the Mavs early by putting up five runs in the first two innings of action.
"[Tyler] Alexander is a good arm and that's a tough guy to face on a Tuesday," UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. "We caught a break in the seventh last time we played them and then today we gave up five in the first two innings which is very tough to come back from."
Matt McLean paced UT Arlington offensively, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Christian Hollie also chipped in, recording a double in his two appearances in the box.
Brad Vassar (2-4) was tagged with the loss, allowing five hits and four earned runs in 1.2 innings on the hill. The UTA bullpen was strong in relief, combining to allow five hits and two earned runs in 7.1 innings.
UTA's first opportunity to bring in a run came in the fourth inning with a runner on third and one out. Reaching on a fielder's choice, Travis Sibley advanced to third on a throwing error by the third basemen that put the Frisco native in scoring position with only one out. However, a pair of strikeouts ended the inning for the Mavs with no runs.
After the Horned Frogs tacked on one more run to extend their lead to six, the Mavericks responded with an eighth-inning run of their own to cut the deficit to five. Two walks paired with an error by the TCU right fielder loaded the bases with no outs. UTA brought in its lone run on a double play that scored Darien McLemore.
TCU extended its lead in the bottom of the ninth when a sacrifice fly to left field brought in the game's final run.
"We got behind and that was basically the game after the second inning," Thomas added. "This weekend is huge. We have to win a series and we've got three series left at home, and we've got to do a better job and start winning some series."
The Mavericks will return to action this weekend when they host Troy in a three-game Sun Belt series beginning on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
