ARLINGTON, Texas – Andrew Miller become just the fourth Maverick to hit at least three home runs in a game as the UT Arlington baseball team (17-20) defeated the Kansas Jayhawks (21-16) 8-1 on Wednesday night at Clay Gould Ballpark.
"See ball, hit ball like you're told when you're seven," said Miller "I've never done that before, so it was a special night. It was a surreal moment when that third one went out."
The Mavericks finished with 11 hits on the day, led by Miller's aforementioned three home run day – the first one for UTA since 1993.
Connor Aube and
Josh Minjarez each finished with two hits, while
JD Wadleigh,
Phillip Childs,
Anthony Dominguez, and
Cason Gregory all hit one. Miller also led the Mavericks in RBI, knocking in six of the eight runs scored – setting a career-high.
On the bump,
Cade Winquest (W, 1-4) earned the start and threw 5.0 innings in the win. Winquest fanned five batters and allowed just one run off five hits.
Wyatt Divis (1.0 IP),
Tanner King (2.0 IP), and
Michael Wong (1.0 IP) finished the game in relief, throwing four combined shutout innings. King struck out all six batters he faced to set a new career-high for the junior. The Maverick staff totaled 13 strikeouts on the day.
The Mavericks went straight to business in the first inning. Following two quick outs, Aube singled before
Dylan Paul followed with a walk. Miller followed with his first jack of the day over the left field wall to put the Mavs up 3-0 after one.
The Jayhawks got one back in the third inning, using a ground out to shortstop to score a runner on third, but that would be the last of the day for Kansas.
UTA came right back in the bottom frame, using the second home run from Miller to score two runs and put the Mavs up 5-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, Miller connected on a deep shot to centerfield. A leaping Jayhawk was unable to make the play at the wall. As Miller sprinted into third for a thought-to-be stand-up triple, the umps waved him home for his third home run of the game.
The Mavericks added two more runs in the eighth for good measure. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the Mavericks. Childs hit into a fielder's choice to score the first run before Aube followed with an RBI single to right field to push the score to 8-1.
UP NEXT
The Mavericks will travel to McNeese State for a three-game non-conference series this weekend beginning Friday (April 23).
