ARLINGTON – After splitting back-to-back games in day one of the Boerner Invitational, the UT Arlington softball (7-6) team dropped both of its games against Kansas (5-9) on Saturday at Allan Saxe Field.
 
Subsequent to falling behind 6-0 through four innings in game one, the Mavericks lost their first matchup against the Jayhawks with a final score of 8-3 before witnessing an early 1-0 lead in the second contest dwindle away to an eventual defeat of 4-1.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The eight runs given up in the first matchup are the most they've allowed all season, tying the season-worst mark of yesterday's 8-5 loss to UTSA. Prior to the eight runs given up in both games, the Mavs hadn't allowed more than four runs in a game all season – only allowing an opposing team to accomplish that feat twice. In fact, UTA has held its opponent to under four runs in nine of the 13 games they've played so far in 2020.
 
The Mavs came up to bat with runners in scoring position a total of five times throughout the first contest compared to Kansas' 13 opportunities. The Jayhawks came through in the clutch as they recorded six two-out RBI in the first matchup.
 
In the second contest, UTA had more opportunities than the Jayhawks did with runners in scoring position but the Mavs could only contribute two hits in their nine chances while Kansas took advantage of their limited moments by hitting .429.
 
The Mavs had a total of four hits in the first game with Aileen Garcia accounting for half of them. The first baseman has now recorded a hit in eight of her last nine contests after she finished with another single in today's nightcap.
 
Right fielder Madison Miller was the catalyst of UTA's big fifth inning in the first game as she came up with a two-RBI single to left field. The junior now has nine RBI over the past seven games – the most of any Mav in that timespan – and with another hit in the second game, she now has a four-game hit streak.
 
Reagan Hukill had recorded a hit in every game through first three games of the Boerner Invitational before coming up hitless in the today's second tilt. She followed up her 3-6 performance on Friday with a 1-3 showing in Saturday's first contest, plating UTA's third and final run.
 
The Jayhawk's pitcher Tatum Goff pitched a complete-game to the tune of five strikeouts while allowing only one run and seven batters to reach base all game.
 
After throwing 6.1 innings of one-run softball last night against Rutgers, JoJo Valencia was inserted back into the circle for the Mavs in the second game. She retired the side through each of the first three innings before eventually leaving the game in the fifth after pitching a total of 4.2 frame. She gave up three earned runs on the night before taking the tough-luck loss.
 
The Mavs finished with eight hits across both games, totaling four in each contest.

Through four contests this weekend, the Mavs have scored a total of 14 runs. Last weekend in the Maverick classic, UTA totaled 31 runs scored across a quartette of games.
 
THEY SAID IT – HEAD COACH PEEJAY BRUN
"Kansas just played better than we did today and you can't take that away from them. I thought we hit their pitcher pretty well, but in the end they just ended up scoring more runs than we did."
 
THE RUNDOWN – Game 1 vs. Kansas
For the third-consecutive game, the Mavs let its opponent get on the scoreboard in the opening frame, this time allowing the Jayhawks to push one run across the plate after they took advantage of a costly UTA throwing error.
 
With the help of a caught-stealing and a double-play line-out, the Jayhawks sent the Mavs down in order through each of the first three innings of the game. First baseman Aileen Garcia came through with UTA's first hit of the game in the second inning, just as she did in the opening contest of its doubleheader on Friday.
 
UTA was able to hold Kansas scoreless through innings two and three before the Jayhawks blew the game open in the fourth with a five-run frame. RC Phillips led the fourth off by hitting a Jayhawk before walking the third batter of the inning to load the bases, allowing the next batter to score Kansas' second run on an infield single.
 
Thanks to a heads-up fielder's choice on the part of Garcia throwing to home and Phillips generating a pop up for the second out of the inning, UTA was looking like they were going to escape the frame without further damage. But the Jayhawks came up with timely back-to-back hits, scoring four more runs to put Kansas in front 6-0.
 
UTA finally countered in the bottom half of the fifth when Garcia got things started with her second single of the game. After Reagan Wright worked a walk and Murphy laid down a bunt to advance both runners, Miller delivered once again for the Mavs as she pulled a pitch into left field for a single and the first two UTA runs of the ballgame.
 
After Miller managed to tag up on a foul-out to the short stop, Hukill got the Mavs to within three runs of the Jayhawks after she laced a ball to the left field wall to drive Miller in from second for UTA's third run of the contest.
 
After the freshman was stranded at second, the Jayhawks jumped all over UTA's pitching in the sixth as Kansas reached base five times in the frame. The Big 10 opponent would eventually push two more runs across in the inning to go up 8-3, a score they would eventually win by.
 
The Mavs reached base only two more times after the fifth inning, both instances coming from free-passes handed out by Kansas.
 
THE RUNDOWN – Game 2 vs. Kansas
Sitting at third in the tournament standings coming into the game, the Mavs made their appearance in the contest as the away team. UTA was retired in order in the top of the first for the fifth straight contest going back to the final game of the Maverick Classic last weekend.
 
Starting pitcher JoJo Valencia shut the Jayhawks down in the bottom half of the first by retiring the side in order, the first time the Mavs have not allowed a run in the opening frame dating back to last weekend.
 
The lefty manufactured three-straight three-up and three-down innings after she induced two pop-ups and five ground ball put-outs before getting the final batter of the third inning to strike out swinging.
 
Wright led off the fourth inning with a perfectly-placed line drive down the right field line for a double. After Miller laid down a bunt to advance her over to third, the throw ricocheted off the first baseman's glove, allowing Wright to round third and come home for the first run of the ballgame.
 
After Kansas got itself out of jam later on in the fourth, the Jayhawks came out in the bottom half of the inning with a lead-off hit of their own. They reached base three times in the frame before pushing a run across to tie the score back up at one apiece.
 
Still tied, the Jayhawks opened the bottom half of the fifth with a double to right-center, opening the door for a big inning. Valencia was able to get the next two batters out before she gave up back-to-back singles, allowing one run to score on each base-knock. Kenedy Hines came in to relieve the lefty and immediately induced an inning-ending groundball out, but not before Kansas was able to put itself in the driver's seat for the first time all game with a two-run advantage at 3-1.
 
The Mavs were sent down in order in the top of the sixth before Kansas extended its lead to three runs with a solo home run off the bat of Jayhawk catcher Shelby Gayre. With momentum fully residing in the Jayhawks dugout, the Mavs couldn't rally back in the final inning like they did the night before, eventually losing to Kansas with a final score of 4-1.
 
ON DECK
The Mavs will wrap up the Boerner Invitational with its fifth and final game when they square off against UTSA for the second time this weekend in the third-place game beginning at 10:00 a.m. at Allan Saxe Field on Sunday. UTA lost its first meeting against the Roadrunners by a score of 8-5.