ARLINGTON – After winning four straight games, including the last three of which coming by way of the run-rule, the UT Arlington softball team (6-3) finally lost a game as it fell to Kent State (7-2) 1-0 in a pitcher's duel in the final game of the Maverick Classic at Allan Saxe Field on Sunday afternoon.
 
After totaling 23 runs and 24 total hits between two games on Saturday, the Mavs could only muster one hit on the afternoon against Kent State's ace Andrea Scali. Starting pitcher RC Phillips and reliever Allie Gardiner combined to pitch six innings of one-run softball, but their solid effort wasn't enough as the Mavs hot bats finally cooled off on Sunday.
 
While Aileen Garcia came up with UTA's lone hit on the afternoon, the Mavs still found ways to apply pressure throughout the game. UTA stole a total of four bags after reaching base seven times in the game, five of which came via a free-pass.
 
Kent State scored in the second inning after Phillips allowed the first batter of the inning to get on base via a hit-by-pitch. The Golden Flashes took advantage, hitting two singles before pushing the first and only run across the plate. With baserunners on first and second, Phillips settled down and limited any further damage by striking out the next batter to end the threat and the inning.
 
Phillips and Gardiner both threw a pair of strikeouts while only allowing eight runners to reach base all game, but UTA just couldn't take advantage of its great pitching and the multiple opportunities they had on the base paths this afternoon, as the contest marked the first time the Mavs were held scoreless all season.

"We played a good team with a good pitcher on the mound and they capitalized when they got on base against us; and we didn't do it on our end," said Head Coach Peejay Brun. "It was just one of those games I think where today they played a better game than we did. We're going to have more games where it's a 1-0 ball game and the quicker we can make an adjustment, the quicker we can get ourselves back into a game like this one."

A Tournament to Remember
Kimber Cortemelia brought out the broom stick this weekend as she went on to crush three home runs in two games on Saturday. She hit her first long ball against Stephen F Austin in the afternoon game before smacking two dingers in the nightcap against Kansas City. She was perfect at the plate throughout the doubleheader going a combined 6-6 at the dish, finishing with two more doubles and two free-passes.
 
She started the weekend off by going 3-4 with a double against Texas Southern on Friday and in the final game of the tournament against Kent State, she ended the contest with a stolen base after going 0-1 with two base-on-balls. All in all, in four games Cortemelia finished the weekend with an .800 batting average after going 8-10 at the plate with three home runs, three doubles, three walks, eight RBI and seven runs scored.
 
ON DECK
The Mavs will travel 100 miles down south to take on Baylor in Waco, Texas on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. inside Getterman Stadium. The Bears lead the all-time series at 6-2, but those two UTA wins came last season when the Mavs won in back-to-back games in a doubleheader at Allan Saxe Field. Baylor has gotten off to a good start in 2020, winning eight of its first 10 matchups, including six straight games.