Final Stats

By Cassie Logan | UTAMavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas -- An offensive outburst for UTA softball commanded by Aileen Garcia led the Mavericks to complete a SBC series sweep over Coastal Carolina 8-5 Sunday at Allan Saxe Field.

The conference sweep was UTA's (25-20, 11-10) first since a 2015 set at Appalachian State. Coastal Carolina (29-19, 7-13) received its second trio of losses in its inaugural year in the conference following a trip to Georgia Southern in early April. The Mavericks overcame Coastal's 3-0 lead in the first with three multi-run innings in the win.

"It was early and we just had to chip away at those runs and trust the process at the plate," UTA coach Kristie Fox said. "We had a lot of opportunities at the plate and we didn't have good at-bats with runners in scoring position. We had to make that a focus in later innings and they did a good job of different people stepping up when we needed it."

Garcia swung a hot bat for the Mavericks on Sunday, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI. The freshman was one of three UTA players with multi-hit games. Sandra Mendoza was 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Krista Rude went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs.

Sam Clakley improved to 19-11 through 4.2 frames. The sophomore was responsible for three runs on four hits and three punchouts. Mariah Denson appeared in the fifth and was relieved after four batters faced in the seventh. The freshman allowed two runs on three hits through 2.1 innings.

Mallory Foster smacked her second triple of the year to lead off the fourth inning and plated the tying run, 3-3 on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Everett. Mendoza singled to third and Rude reached on a bunt before Garcia swung a blistering two-RBI single into left field to gain a 5-3 lead for UTA.

Everett came up clutch again in the fifth inning with a double to send a walk in Shelbi Sikes across. The Maverick battery padded the lead 7-3 as she scored on a double from Mendoza.

The junior's second double of the series moves her into a tie for fourth in her career. In career extra base hits, Mendoza claimed sole possession of ninth all-time in UTA history. Sikes needs one more walk to tie for fourth in career walks.

UTA expanded its advantage 8-3 in the sixth inning as Everett walked in a run with bases loaded. The catcher clipped her day at 1-for-2 with three RBI and a run.

Coastal tacked on a pair of runs in the top of the seventh on a two-run blast, but Clakley relieved Denson to fan the final pair of outs.

One swing was all it took to scrape up three runs in the top of the first inning for the Chanticleers. A leadoff single and walk both crossed on Kassidy Smith's blast to left field to command a 3-0 lead.

UTA crept up on Coastal in the bottom of the first inning to make it a one-run ballgame. A pair of throwing errors proved to be costly as a sacrifice foul out on Whitney Walton handed the Mavs their first run, and Laura Curry would knock around the second.

Up next, the Mavericks travel to Boone, N.C. for a three-game set against Appalachian State beginning with a doubleheader noon Saturday.