ARLINGTON, Texas - After deciding to move the game up one hour to avoid potential rainfall, the UT Arlington softball team (28-24, 16-10 Sun Belt) even the series against Texas State, defeating the Bobcats 4-1 at Allan Saxe Field on Friday evening. A win on Senior Day tomorrow afternoon would push UTA into third place in the Sun Belt Conference. With today's win, the Mavericks have won the most Sun Belt Conference games since joining the league.

Three pitchers combined to get the win for the Mavericks. JoJo Valencia started in the circle, giving up one run off three hits in two innings pitched.  Laura Henriksen (6-1) came into the game in the third inning. She did not allow a run over the 2.1 innings pitched.  Allie Gardiner (5) picked up the save, allowing just one hit over 2.2 innings.

The Mavericks finished with six hits on the day, led by Krista Rude's 2-for-3 effort at the plate. Rude and Whitney Walton both crossed the plate twice, while Aileen Garcia led the Mavs with two RBI.

Texas State jumped on top in the first. Two singles put runners on first and third for the Bobcats.  A throw to second base to try to catch the runner stealing backfired for the Mavs, as the runner on third got a good jump off the throw, stealing home.

The lead did not last long, however. Walton led off the game with a walk before Laura Curry pushed her to second with a sacrifice bunt.  Aileen Garcia took advantage of having Walton in scoring position, hitting a ball to right field to bring Walton home and tie the game at one.

Following a scoreless second inning, the Mavs took the lead. Krista Rude reached with a leadoff bunt, using her speed to beat the throw at first. She proceeded to steal second, before advancing to third with another Curry sacrifice bunt.  Garcia would knock Rude in with a sacrifice fly to put the Mavs up 2-1.

A two-run fifth inning sealed the deal for the Mavericks.  Walton hit her third home run of the season to start the inning. Two singles and two sacrifice hits later brought Rude home again, coming off a Reagan Wright sacrifice fly to push the score to 4-1. 

Gardiner entered the game in the sixth, allowing just one hit the remainder of the game to preserve the Maverick victory.

UTA will finish the regular season tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Allan Saxe Field.  The team will celebrate five seniors for Senior Day - Kayci Moore, Cy'Andria Newton, Laura Curry, Krista Rude and Bri Burchianti.