Feb. 28, 2017
Game 1 | Game 2
ARLINGTON, Texas - Rebounding from a Game 1 loss, UTA was able to rally to split the day against Saint Francis as it took the nightcap 6-0 at Allan Saxe Field on Tuesday.
The Mavericks (9-7) had an early lead in the opener, giving up six unsanswered runs after building a 3-0 lead through three innings, falling 6-3 in Game 1. UTA used a string of pairs in Game 2 behind a masterful perfromance by Sam Clakley in the circle.
Clakley did not give up an earned run over 9.0 innings pitched as she appeared in the opener and started Game 2. Clakley improved 8-2 on the season after striking out five in the second game.
"We came out with a much different attitude than the first game," Clakley said. "In the second game we came out and went all out. The defense played really well and we got some runs on the board."
Laura Curry and Krista Rude combined for three hits over two games. Curry finished with three runs scored and produced the team's first triple of the season during Game 2. Cy'Andria Newton and Sandra Mendoza each tallied a pair of hits, both doing so in Game 1.
"I like their fight," UTA coach Kristie Fox said. "We need some consistency in how we show up to the ballpark. They have to find a way to play behind a pitcher other than Sam C and compete when someone else is out there."
UTA appeared to be in command as it built up a 3-0 lead going into the fourth. Curry crossed the plate two times in the first three innings, while Mendoza, Shelbi Sikes and Newton each tallied RBI.
However, Saint Francis would score six unanswered, including a three-run homer to jump into the lead during the fifth, to overcome the Mavericks early offense.
Sam Montes pitched well in a no decision as she went 4 1/3 innings, giving up six hits and an earned run to go with two strikeouts. Mariah Denson fell to 0-5 after giving up three earned in the fifth.
The Mavericks jumped out of the gates again in Game 2 with Whitney Walton powering a two-run shot in the first for her third of the season. Curry then picked up UTA's first triple of the season with one out in the second with a shot off the center-field wall. She'd come around to score later in the second on a SFU error, and then a single from Krista Rude brought in another to double the score going to the third.
Runs continued to come in pairs for UTA with another mark on the board in the fourth. UTA was assisted by an illegal pitch that brought across Newton. Kacyi Moore, running for Shelbi Sikes, would come around the bases for the sixth run of Game 2 on a infield grounder by Whitney Walton.
UTA heads into the final weekend of nonconference play with it hosts Southern on Thursday and then the Maverick Invitational on Friday through Sunday. Teams featured are Tulsa, Saint Francis and Incarnate Word.
"The biggest thing for us right now is getting consistency when we show up to the park every day," Fox said of what she is taking from tonight into the weekend. "The girls know what they are supposed to do, but it is doing the little things all the time that we really got to get back to."
