ARLINGTON, Texas - A return to Sun Belt Conference play this weekend will pit UT Arlington against the Georgia Southern Eagles at Allan Saxe Field. The games will begin Friday (March 22) with a double-header.  The first game will start at 4 p.m. with the second to follow.  The series will wrap up on Sunday with a noon first pitch.

MATCHUP: UTA (14-13, 4-2 SBC) vs Georgia Southern (15-12, 2-4 SBC)
WHEN: March 22-24
WHERE: Arlington, Texas | Allan Saxe Field
FRIDAY - DH GAME ONE (4 p.m.): WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
FRIDAY - DH GAME TWO (6:30 p.m.): WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
SUNDAY - GAME THREE (12 p.m.): WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
GAME NOTES: UTA GAME NOTES

SERIES HISTORY
UT Arlington tied the series with Georgia Southern at six games last year when they took two out of three from the Eagles. The Mavs won game one 4-2 thanks to a Reagan Wright home run. The Eagles took game two in the form of a shutout, but UTA clinched the series with a 10-7 win in game three.

UTA NOTES
• Junior Reagan Wright has been known for her long ball since arriving at UTA in 2017. With her four home runs on the season, she now sits with 22 career bombs, tying her for the 5th most career home runs in UTA program history. She is just three away from being tied for second all-time, but still has 14 more to go to catch Rebecca Collom for the record.
• The Mavericks have had to manufacture runs this season.  They are one of three teams in the Sun Belt to have less than 10 home runs on the season (9). Despite this, UTA is still the second highest scoring team in the Sun Belt, scoring 143 on the season. 
• Two Mavericks have a streak of reaching base in the double-digits. Laura Curry has the season-long on base streak at 16 games and counting, while Whitney Walton has reached base in 13 straight games during her team-high 13 game hitting streak. Curry has been a baserunner in every game since February 23, while Walton has had a hit in every game since February 27.
• Just halfway through the season, Whitney Walton is closing in on passing her season totals from a year ago in hits, runs scored, walks, doubles, home runs and stolen bases, whiling being on pace for a career low in strikeouts.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | GEORGIA SOUTHERN
• Georia Southern comes into the weekend series with a 15-12 overall record and 2-4 SBC record. They are coming off a series win over Coastal Carolina a week ago, winning game one 3-1 and game two 3-0, while dropping game two 5-4.
• The Eagles have only played two true road games ths season, losing both games. Their first loss was at Mercer on Feb. 13 (5-4), while their second loss came at North Florida on March 13 (4-0).
• Three regulars are batting over .300 on the year - Shelby Wilson (.409), Hannah Farrell (.400) and Mekhia Freeman (.382).  Those three have accounted for 48 percent of the team RBI.
• The Eagles are live on the long ball, currently ranked third in the Sun Belt with 29 team homes.  They trail only Coastal Carolina (39) and Louisiana in that category.

ON DECK
The Mavs will end their homestand with a double-header against No. 15 Arkansas on Tuesday, March 26 with game one starting at 11:30 a.m.

LAST TIME OUT | Mavs Edged By Houston Baptist (March 20)
Whitney Walton extended her hitting streak to 13 games and Shelbi Court hit her first career home run, but it wasn't enough to lift the Mavericks past Houston Baptist as the Huskies defeating UT Arlington 6-5 Wednesday evening at Allan Saxe Field.

UTA finished with 11 hits on the day, but stranded eight runners on the bags. Laura Curry, Shelbi Court, Reagan Wright and Aileen Garcia each finished with two hits on the day.

JoJo Valencia started in the circle, but was replaced by Randi Phillips (7-7) in the second inning.  Allie Gardiner finished the game, tossing two complete innings without allowing a hit.

The game started off on the wrong foot for UTA (14-13), with HBU connecting on a two-run home run to start the game and take an immediate 2-0 lead.

Reagan Wright put the Mavs back within one in the bottom of the first when she hit a two-out single up the middle to score Laura Curry.

UTA took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the second.  Melanie Mendoza reached on a fielders choice to score the first run, before Curry singled up the gut of the defense to score Kayci Moore.

After securing the first two outs in the fifth inning, it quickly unraveled for the Mavericks as the Huskies scored four two-out runs coming off four straight hits.  With the explosive inning by HBU, the Mavs trailed 6-3.

The Mavs halted the momentum, and appeared to gain some of their own, when Court blasted a two-run shot to left center to bring the game to 6-5.  An inning later, Walton extended her hitting streak, reaching base to be the game-tying run, but was unable to advance past second. 

BARK IN THE PARK…ALL SEASON LONG
UT Arlington Department of Athletics officials announced that all 2019 home baseball games at Clay Gould Ballpark and softball games at Allan Saxe Field will be dog-friendly, thanks to a generous partnership with upstart Lone Star Friends of Animals to create 'Casey's Corner.'
 
Dogs which are leashed, at least six months old and with the proper vaccinations will be permitted at all UTA baseball and softball games throughout the season.
 
Casey's Corner is a grassy area between the baseball and softball fields, along the 3rd-base line of the baseball stadium. Multiple pet waste stations have been set up, and the space provides fans and dog owners an opportunity to walk and sit with their canine companions while taking in all the Maverick action.

TICKET INFORMATION
Individual and season tickets are now on sale for the 2019 UT Arlington softball season. All seating is general admission, and tickets can be secured by logging on to UTATickets.com.

FOLLOW THE MAVS
For the latest news on UTA Softball log on to UTAMavs.com or stay connected to the Mavs on social media. Follow the Mavericks on Twitter @UTASoftball.