Final Stats

By Brooke Ortale | UTAMavs.com

MOBILE, Ala. - UT Arlington fell, 3-2, in a closely-contested battle with Troy as the Mavericks saw their season end Wednesday on a walk-off hit in the first round of the Sun Belt Championship.

"I am really proud of the way this team competed to the very end," UT Arlington coach Kristie Fox said. "We had an amazing start to our year and had some milestone wins. This program has some strong players to build around. The future is bright."

UTA ends its season 29-20, the most wins since winning 30 in 2011. The Mavs made history winning 19 straight games to start the year, marking the best start in program history. Perhaps the highlight of the season was knocking off No. 5 Louisiana 3-1, limiting one of the best offenses in the nation to six hits.

Sophomore Sandra Mendoza was named to the Sun Belt All-Conference first team. The Eagle Pass, Texas native broke the Mavericks single-season hits record with 76, as well as the batting average record, hitting .461 on the year.

As two of only four freshmen named to the Sun Belt All-Conference teams, Krista Rude and Samantha Clakley garnered Sun Belt second-team honors. Rude finished the year second on the team in batting average with .385. As the ace of the pitching staff, Clakley led the team in wins with 18, ERA at 3.09 and strikeouts with 133.

Against Troy, both teams had their opportunities to break open the scoring, but neither team could cash in until a run-scoring double by the Trojans in the ninth.

The game marked the third time in the last four matchups with the Trojans that has been forced to extra innings, with each team earning a win in a nine-inning affair earlier this season.

Both teams were held scoreless through the first two innings, before the Trojans got on the board with a lead-off home run in the third.

The Mavs responded quickly, notching their first two hits in the game with back-to-back singles by Laura Curry and Brianna Burchianti to start the fourth. After a wild pitch advances both runners up a base, Curry scored on a RBI groundout by Mallory Foster to tie the game at 1-1.

UTA took the lead in the fifth after an RBI groundout by Shelbi Sikes scored Kacey Everett, who led the inning off with a double down the left-field line.

In the bottom of the inning, the Trojans knotted the game up at 2-2 with a bases-loaded single to center.

Both teams were held scoreless for the remaining five innings until the ninth, but not without opportunities by each to take the lead. The teams combined to leave 20 on base until the walk-off double by the Trojans.