Box Score | Notes

BOONE, N.C. -- Trae Patterson worked his fifth quality start of the year and Quintin Rohrbaugh collected three hits, leading UTA to a 5-2 win at Appalachian State to clinch the series, on a pleasant Saturday afternoon at Beaver Field at Smith Stadium.

UTA (16-16, 7-4 Sun Belt Conference) secured the series win over Appalachian State (12-19, 3-8 Sun Belt) in the Saturday result, after posting an 18-1 win in the series opener on a cold and windy Friday night. The Mavs are now in a three-way tie for first place with Texas State and Louisiana in the Sun Belt Conference Western Division.

The game opened as a pitching duel, with the teams trading single runs in the fourth before Rohrbaugh helped spark a two-run inning in the sixth and a two-run frame in the seventh for a 5-1 lead. The Mavs used a trio of relievers to escape an eighth inning jam, with Daniel James locking down the final four outs for his sixth save.

ON THE MOUND
Patterson (3-2) tossed a gem, his sixth quality start in eight outings. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Patterson started 22 of the 31 hitters he faced with first-pitch strikes, working 6.2 innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits and two walks, fanning a career-best seven.

With the tying run in the on-deck circle and two outs in the seventh, Austin Gardner came on in relief of Patterson, ending the threat. After a leadoff single opened the eighth, Adam Meyer took over on the mound. Meyer allowed a single but induced a double play on the ground before Daniel James took over in the eighth.

A native of Lubbock, Texas, James allowed a hit but got the final four outs for his ninth career save.

Appalachian State starter Colin Schmid (4-4) worked a competitive start, allowing four runs over 6.1 innings, surrendering six hits and a walk, fanning seven over 92 pitches. Reed Howell came on in relief with a runner on and one out in the top of the seventh inning. Howell worked 1.1 innings, allowing a run on two hits and two walks. Tristan Helms also worked in the eighth.

AT THE DISH
UTA collected five runs on eight hits, getting a 3-for-5 game from Rohrbaugh. UTA also got hits from RJ Williams, Omar Salinas, Brady Cox, Noah Vaughan and Easton Johnson, with Christian Hollie driving in a run with a sacrifice fly, also adding a walk.

HOW THEY SCORED
The Mavs opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning, with Salinas leading off with a single up the middle, motoring to third on a single to right-centerfield. Olson then beat out the back-end of a double play to score Salinas for a 1-0 lead.

The Mountaineers got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, getting a leadoff knock from Matt Vernon. He scored on Brian Bauk's two-out hit to centerfield.

In the top of the sixth inning in a 1-1 game, UTA rallied to load the bases without an out. Salinas led off with a full-count walk and Rohrbaugh followed with a single. Olson then was hit by a pitch to load the bags for Cox. Cox chopped a ball high in the infield, with the throw from shortstop drawing the first baseman off the bag, with Salinas scoring on the play. Hollie then hung a sac fly to centerfield to score Rohrbaugh from third for a 3-1 lead. '

ASU immediately answered in the bottom of the sixth inning, getting a leadoff walk from Matt Brill and a sacrifice fly from Conner Leonard to plate its second run.

In the top of the seventh, UTA chased Schmid and added on to its lead vs. the bullpen. Johnson led off with a single to leftfield and Williams pushed him to second with a full-count walk. After a hard-hit lineout from Salinas, Rohrbaugh ripped a two-out, two-run double into the gap to give UTA a 5-2 lead.

NEXT
The series will conclude on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT at Smith Stadium. The Mavs will start junior southpaw Jakob Hernandez (2-0, 2.72 ERA) on Sunday.