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By Paul Watley | @WatP7

ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington jumped out to an early five-run lead and never looked back in a 7-3 victory over UALR at Clay Gould Ballpark on Saturday afternoon.

"We did a good job of throwing strikes," UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. "That's the second day in a row that we didn't walk anybody. Brad Vassar gave us a good start, and Jacob Moreland came in and did what he does. We had some big hits in the first inning and then we kind of stalled a little bit, but then we had the big hit by Darien McLemore in the eighth. We really needed that and it salted the game for us."

The Mavericks (19-26, 10-13 SBC) went 10-for-34 at the plate, while holding the Trojans (14-27, 10-12) to six hits on the day. UTA was 7-for-15 with runners on base and left just five runners on.
 
Vassar was strong out of the gate for the Mavericks, laying down the first nine Trojan batters and striking out three. The McKinney native ended his day with two hits and two earned runs allowed in 3.1 innings pitched.

With Vassar allowing a pair of runs in the fourth inning, UTA turned to Moreland (4-2) who picked up the victory in his 5.2 innings of action. Moreland allowed four hits and one earned run, while striking out three. In addition to the five strikeouts, the UTA duo didn't walk any any UALR batters. 
 
Travis Sibley served as the catalyst for UT Arlington offensively as the senior shortstop reached base in each of his four plate appearances. The Frisco native went 2-for-2 on the day with a pair of runs scored. McLemore's 2-for-4 outing helped add to the offensive firepower as he drove in three runs, while scoring one of his own.
 
After scoring five runs through three innings in the series opener on Friday, UTA matched that mark in the first inning of play on Saturday. The Mavs scored five runs off of six straight hits to lead off the game. An error by the Trojans left fielder made room for Matt McLean to score the opening run of the day. With the bases loaded and no outs, Jackson Morris stepped into the box and delivered with an RBI single to right field. McLemore and Eric Tate joined the party in the next two at-bats with RBI singles to right and left field, respectively. The final run of the inning came on a ground-ball double play that pushed across McLemore.
 
UALR chipped away at the UTA lead in the fourth with an RBI single through the left side and a sacrifice fly to left field to cut the lead to 5-2.
 
With the offense stalling after the opening-inning outburst, McLemore revived the bats with a two-out, two-RBI triple down the right-field line that gave UTA a five-run advantage.

The Trojans brought one more run across in the eighth off of a fielder's choice RBI to third, making the final score 7-3 in favor of the Mavs.

"We just need to keep playing," Thomas said. "This is our first chance at a sweep going into the last day since I can remember. We'll come out and get after them a little bit.

"Hopefully we can come out with a good approach and play a good game tomorrow. We have plenty of arms left and I feel good with Joel Kuhnel on the mound."

UTA and UALR will wrap up the three-game series on Sunday with a 1 p.m. matchup at Clay Gould Ballpark. The Mavericks will throw Kuhnel (2-2), while the Trojans will turn to right-hander Cameron Allen (3-4).