LAKE CHARLES, La. – The UT Arlington baseball team (19-20) swept doubleheader action against McNeese State (18-21) on Saturday afternoon. The Mavericks defeated the Cowboys 8-1 in game one before taking game two 6-5 in 10 innings. Sixth year senior
Josh Minjarez broke the career games played record for the Mavericks in his game two start, appearing in his 231
st career game – breaking Darrell Preston's previous mark.
GAME ONE RECAP | UTA wins 8-1
Carlos Tavera (W, 1-4) picked up his first win on the season, tossing six shutout innings for the Mavericks. The junior reached double-digit strikeouts for the fourth time this year and now sits at 88 on the season.
Tanner King (S, 1) earned his first save on the season, allowing one run in three innings of work.
Four Mavericks finished with multi-hit days with
Boone Montgomery,
Connor Aube and
Sam Gotlieb each finishing with three hits.
Dylan Paul added two. Aube led the Mavericks with four RBI in the game, while Montgomery, Childs and Paul all added one. Aube and Paul both connected on home runs.
The Mavericks took the lead in the first inning using doubles from
Boone Montgomery and
Connor Aube to score one run.
After a scoreless second inning,
Sam Gotlieb and Montgomery led off the third to put runners at the corners.
Phillip Childs grounded out to shortstop, scoring Gotlieb in the process. Aube followed with the next at-bat with an opposite field home run to give the Mavs a 4-0 advantage.
UTA loaded the bases in the fourth inning with two outs. Aube connected on a single to left field to drive in his fourth run of the game.
Cason Gregory tried to score a second run, but the throw beat him home, keeping the Maverick lead to five runs.
The Mavericks took advantage of Cowboy errors in the sixth inning. After Gotlieb and Montgomery reached base, Aube reached on a fielding error by the pitcher which allowed Gotlieb to cross home plate.
The Cowboys got one back in the seventh inning, using two singles to score their lone run of the game.
The Mavericks added one back in the top of the eighth, using a Montgomery single to centerfield to score Gotlieb.
Dylan Paul added an insurance run in the ninth inning, hitting a solo home run to right field to put the Mavs up 8-1.
GAME TWO RECAP | UTA wins, 6-5 (10 inn.)
Kody Bullard picked up the start for the Mavericks, allowing jut one run in 5.2 innings pitched. Bullard also struck out four batters.
Zach Norris (1.1 IP),
Michael Wong (2.0 IP) and
Logan Austin (1.0 IP) threw in relief. Wong (W, 2-1) picked up the win while Austin (S, 1) earned his first save of the season.
Six Mavericks finished with a multi-hit performance.
Boone Montgomery,
Connor Aube,
Dylan Paul,
Andrew Miller,
Anthony Dominguez and
JD Wadleigh each ended the game with two hits. Aube led the Mavs with two RBI, coming off his second homer of the afternoon.
Tyler Rice, Montgomery, Miller and
Cason Gregory each finished with one RBI.
The Mavericks offensive momentum continued into the early going of game one as the Mavs once again scored in the opening frame. With runners on second and third,
Andrew Miller hit a single past the shortstop to score
Tyler Rice and put the Mavs on top.
The Cowboys answered in the bottom frame, loading the bases with the first three batters before a walk drove in the first run.
Scoring would halt for the next four innings, until the Mavericks loaded the bases in the sixth.
Boone Montgomery broke the tie with an RBI single before
Tyler Rice followed with a sacrifice fly.
The eighth inning began with
Cason Gregory walking to give the Mavericks a baserunner. With two outs,
Connor Aube connected on his second two-run home run of the day to extend the Maverick lead to 5-1.
The first two batters reached base for the Cowboys in the bottom of the eighth before a fielder's choice put runners on the corners. A single past second base pushed home the first run before a throwing error by the Mavericks allowed the second run to score. A ground out pushed the final run home for the Cowboys to make it a 5-4 game.
McNeese kept their bats alive in the ninth inning, using three singles to tie the game and effectively erase the four-run deficit to force extra innings.
The tie didn't last long as the Mavs went back to work in extras.
JD Wadleigh led off the 10
th with a triple.
Cason Gregory drove in Wadleigh with a single to right field to put the Mavs back on top in extras.
UP NEXT
The Mavericks will look to complete the three-game sweep over the Cowboys tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Joe Miller Ballpark.
