May 3, 2016

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

By: Ben Rikard | UTAMavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington Mavericks could not hold a 3-0 lead as Dallas Baptist scored seven unanswered runs in the final five innings to pick up a 7-3 win on Tuesday night at Clay Gould Ballpark.

UTA (23-23) scored two in the first and one more in the second off of DBU (29-14) starter MD Johnson, but were held to just three hits the remainder of the way as the Patriots earned their second win of the season over the Mavs.

"Brad (Vassar) did a good job early on in hanging some zeros up there," coach Darin Thomas said. "We got a lead, but DBU did a good job too of coming back and then hung some on us later in the game. They pitched us well and we weren't able to get to them late."

Johnson moved to 4-3 on the season with 5.1 innings of work in his second outing against UTA this year. The Patriots' bullpen, meanwhile, allowed just two singles in 3.2 innings of shutout work.

Maverick starter Brad Vassar allowed just one run on three hits with three strikeouts in 4.0 innings, while Matt Michalski fell to 1-4 on the season after allowing three runs in 1.1 innings. In all the Mavs allowed just seven hits to a potent DBU lineup on the night; however, the Patriots made the most of their swings, collecting four extra-base hits, including three home runs.

Jameson Hannah proved to be the biggest menace in the game, finishing 2-for-4 with a triple, home run and four RBI. It was his two-run bomb in the bottom of the sixth that surged DBU ahead 4-3, capping a three-run inning.

The Mavs continued its trend of striking early, getting to Johnson for a pair of runs in the bottom of the first after Vassar navigated his way out of a mini jam in the opening half of the frame. Darien McLemore brought in the first run with a one-out RBI single before Quinitin Rohrbaugh scored Brady Cox with an RBI squeeze bunt.

Cody Farrell made it a 3-0 lead with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second, scoring Caleb Koedyker who had led off the inning with a sharp single to center field. That lead stood up until the top of the fifth when DBU got on the board on an RBI ground out from Tim Millard to cut the lead to 3-1.

Michalski did his job in the inning, minimizing the damage to keep the Mavs in front by a pair before the Patriots surged ahead with a pair of home runs in the top of the sixth. Trooper Reynolds was the first to do damage, cutting the lead to 3-2 with a solo home run. Three batters later Hannah sent one over the right-field fence to put DBU ahead for good at 4-3.

UTA had chances in both the seventh and eighth when it got the tying run to the plate, but the Patriots' pitching staff was up to the task and quelled both rallies. DBU added two more runs on a two-run triple by Hannah in the eighth and one more on a solo shot by Daniel Sweet in the ninth to make it a 7-3 final tally.

The Mavs will jump back into conference play this weekend when it travels to Little Rock for a three-game series beginning Friday.