SB: Fall slate concludes with offensive outburst
10/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
By Brooke Ortale | UTAMavs.com
ARLINGTON, Texas - In what was a display of the potential firepower the Mavs can produce in the spring, UT Arlington softball concluded its fall schedule with an offensive explosion against Grayson College on Wednesday morning at Allan Saxe Field.
"The girls did a good job of coming out with a lot of energy," UT Arlington coach Kristie Fox said. "A 9:30 game is a little different for them but I think they were focused and ready to go."
With much talk this fall about the youth movement, seniors Mallory Foster and Kacey Everett were not outdone on the fall's final scheduled scrimmage, both launching home runs early.
"We have some strength in our older players," Fox said. "They have a lot of experience that I think is going to come in handy moving forward and then that combined with our really athletic, young players we have, I'm excited for the spring."
Bright spots were not just limited to the offense during its five-game fall slate, the defense was just as impressive. Now having a full season in the infield under her belt, senior Shelbi Sikes has been rock at third base, much like she was throughout last season.
"I like the way we are playing defense and when the pitchers are throwing strikes are being very successful," Fox said.
All four pitchers have made appearances in each game with Sam Clakley getting the start against Grayson, throwing three innings of shutout softball. Mariah Denson entered in relief of Clakley to throw four hitless innings. Gracie Bogle followed Denson for an inning before Sam Montes came in to close it out for the last two.
The new UTA single-season hits record holder sophomore Sandra Mendoza (76) has been a steady presence at second base, while freshmen Whitney Walton and Aileen Garcia appear to be front-runners to play shortstop and first base, respectively.
The fall season has been a showcase of the versatility and depth the Mavs have in this year's squad and it's providing a great deal of confidence throughout.
"It's super nice (the versatility)," Foster said. "You know that if one of us goes down we have three or four girls in each position that can pick us up. We have so much depth on the team."
Now that the season is in the books, the seniors are looking ahead to the spring and the bittersweet feeling of it being their final season at UTA.
"I am so excited (for the spring)," Foster said. "I almost don't want it to start because I don't want it to end. I'm really excited for it start and for us to get some competition and to show them what we're made of this year."
Details on the 2017 schedule will be released shortly.
