May 21, 2015
Final Stats | Photo Gallery
By Paul Watley | UTAMavs.com
TROY, Ala. - No. 7 UT Arlington fell behind early and was unable to complete a comeback as it fell to No. 6 Texas State 10-2 at Riddle-Pace Field on Thursday night.
"First of all, give Scott Grist credit," UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said. "That's the second complete game he's thrown against us in less than a week. We had some chances early and didn't get it done. They squared a lot of balls up early and then Joel Kuhnel settled down and pitched well in the middle innings. We just didn't take advantage of the opportunities and give Grist credit for that."
UTA returns to action on Friday in an elimination game against No. 3 Louisiana set for 6:30 p.m. The Ragin' Cajuns swept the season series against the Mavs when the teams met in April.
The Mavericks (24-31) registered 10 hits in the game and went 8-for-21 with runners on base, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Bobcats' 12 hits that led to 10 runs.
Matt McLean and Brady Cox spearheaded the offensive efforts as the duo went 2-for-4 at the plate. Eric Tate also did his part, going 1-for-2 with one RBI.
Texas State (24-30-1) jumped out to an early lead in the game as it followed up a one-run second inning with a four-run third, taking a five-run lead.
The Mavericks aimed to make a comeback as it put together one-run innings in the fourth and fifth to cut the Bobcat lead to three runs at 5-2. With singles by Levi Scott, Cox and Darien McLemore loading the bases with one out, Tate brought in one run with his sacrifice fly to center field. Travis Sibley stepped into the box in the fifth and send the first pitch of his at-bat over the left-field wall for a solo shot.
The Bobcats tacked on five runs in the final three innings of play to set the final score at 10-2.
Kuhnel (4-4) was charged with the loss as he allowed eight hits and six earned runs in 6.1 innings of action. The sophomore right-handed pitcher also struck out four batters in his 104-pitch outing.
"We're going to have to pitch better than we did today and we're going to have to score," Thomas added. "You need to score when you get late into a tournament because everybody's short on pitching. Hopefully we come out tomorrow and swing the bats good."
