MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A bases loaded two-run single in the 8
th inning lifted the South Alabama Jaguars past UT Arlington on Saturday afternoon as the Mavericks fell 5-4 in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Kody Bullard (ND) tossed 6.1 innings for the Mavericks. He allowed two runs off four hits.
Michael Wong (L, 3-2) allowed two runs in one inning, while
Tanner King gave up one hit in 0.2 innings pitched.
UTA finished with 10 hits on the day, including multi-hit games from
Connor Aube,
Anthony Dominguez and
Phillip Childs.
Boone Montgomery,
Josh Minjarez, Dominguez and Childs each ended with one run batted in.
The Mavericks left nine runners on base and went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
The scoring didn't get started until the third inning. The Mavericks struck first, using a sacrifice fly to score the first run of the game.
In the bottom frame, the Jaguars answered with a two-run inning. South Alabama finished with two hits and took advantage of an error in the inning.
UTA retook the lead in the fourth inning with back-to-back singles off the bats of
Phillip Childs and
Anthony Dominguez with runners on second and third to score two runs.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Jaguars connected on a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth.
With the bases loaded in the sixth inning,
Josh Minjarez hit sacrifice fly to left field to put UTA back on top by one run.
In the 8
th inning, the Jaguars loaded the bases using a hit, walk and hit by pitch. After a fielder's choice prevented a run from scoring for the second out of the inning, the Jaguars used a 3-2 count to hit a line drive to center field and score two runs to take the decisive 5-4 lead over the Mavericks.
With the loss, the Mavericks end their season 27-30 overall with a Sun Belt Tournament semifinals appearance for the first time since 2014.
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