By Ben Rikard | UTAMavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington picked up a pair of wins on Saturday in two very different ways, sweeping a doubleheader from Arkansas State to open up Sun Belt Conference play at Clay Gould Ballpark.

UTA (10-6, 2-0 SBC)used an eight-run fifth inning to power itself to an 11-8 win in the opener, then got 8.0 shutout innings from starter Kadon Simmons for the second straight start to shut down the Red Wolves (7-7, 0-2 SBC) 2-0 in the nightcap.

"We got a great start from Kadon (Simmons) and Daniel James did his thing," UTA coach Darin Thomas said following the game. "We played great defense in the second game and Matt (McLean) made a couple of nice plays out in the outfield, Brady (Cox) made a nice throw to end an inning and those are the things that get overlooked. People look at at-bats and things like that, but tonight it was pitching and defense in Game 2 and in Game 1 we finally woke up and got that eight-spot."

The teams will square off in the series finale on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. with junior Austin Gardner getting the start off league play with three straight wins for the first time since 2006.

Game 1 Box Score
Game 1 - UT Arlington 11, Arkansas State 8
Joel Kuhnel moved to 3-1 on the season and tied a career high with six strikeouts, but it was Jerame Littell's second grand slam of the season that was the big blow in an eight-run fifth that put the Mavs ahead to stay.

"Joel is steady. We know what we are going to get from him, but it is nice to get wins like today when your Friday guy goes six and your Saturday guy picks you up with a near complete-game shutout," Thomas said. "There are different ways to win and we just had to outscore them in Game 1. We beat a good pitcher. He's been really good against us the last couple of years."

UTA trailed 4-0 going to the bottom of the fifth after four unearned runs were scored against Kuhnel's ledger, but the Mavs finally got to A-State starter Tyler Zuber in the bottom half of the inning. UTA sent 12 men to the plate in the frame, finally getting on the board on a two-run single from Matt McLean as part of a 2-for-4 day for him.

RJ Williams and Christian Hollie followed with walks to load the bases and Littell took advantage on the first pitch he saw from Zuber, launching it over the left-field wall to put the Mavs ahead 6-4.

"Jerame (Littell) didn't start, but he was ready to go right away," Thomas said. "That grand slam was a huge hit. We needed it."

Noah Vaughan finished the day just a home run shy of the cycle and drove in the first of his three RBI on the day four batters later with a two-run triple to center field to push the lead to 8-4 before the inning came to a close.

Kuhnel responded with a shutdown sixth to end his day and the Mavs added three more in the seventh on RBI hits from Darien McLemore, Vaughan and McLean. But that was after the Red Wolves had cut the lead to 8-6 with a pair of runs in the top half of the frame on a two-run single from Jeremy Brown. They then loaded the bases with two outs before UTA went to lefty Adam Meyer out of the pen who got Garrett Rucker to ground out to end the threat.

Meyer surrendered a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth, but still tossed the final 2.1 innings to earn his first career save.

Game 2 Box Score
Game 2 - UT Arlington 2, Arkansas State 0
The nightcap was all about UTA starter Kadon Simmons, who dazzled for the second straight Saturday in leading the Mavs to a 2-0 win. The junior right-hander picked up his SBC-best fourth win with 8.0 shutout innings, not allowing a run with three strikeouts and no free passes.

He allowed a two-out hit in the first, but proceeded to retire 10 of the next 11 hitters he faced and allowed just four hits on his night. Meanwhile, A-State starter Adam Grantham did not allow a hit until the fifth, but was hampered by five walks.

"Kadon has been really good. He doesn't get shook up and keeps his composure," Thomas said. "He picked us up big time and has done so on the back end of a doubleheader for two straight starts. Pitching gives your team energy and strength. He went out there tonight and pitched great the first three innings and all of a sudden our energy picked up as a team."

UTA finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth when McLean delivered a two-out RBI triple to score Vaughan who had drawn a one-out walk. Brady Cox picked up an RBI single in the next inning and that was more than enough for Simmons and closer Daniel James, who surrendered only a two-out single in the ninth on his way to his third save of the season.