LAS CRUCES, New Mexico – The UT Arlington softball team split day two of the Troy Cox Classic Friday night as the Mavericks came away with a 6-4 victory over Northern Colorado followed by a tough 12-7 loss to New Mexico State.
The Mavericks' offense was on fire Friday as the squad pieced together a total of 22 hits over the course of both games.
Senior
Meagan Smith paced UTA's bats as she went 6-8 on the day with 3 RBI. Smith knocked five singles and a home run – her first of the season.
KJ Murphy also had herself a day as well going 4-8 at the plate.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: vs. Northern Colorado (W, 6-4)
UTA's offense came out swinging as the Mavericks scored three runs in the first inning courtesy of a three-run home run from junior
Reagan Hukill. The outfielder went 2-4 against the Bears with 3 RBI. Third baseman Murphy knocked a double and two singles in the contest as she holds a team-high .455 batting average on the season.
Three other Mavs also came away with hits against Northern Colorado as senior Smith recorded two hits with
Jadyn Erickson and
Haley Mountain tallied one.
Right-handed pitcher
Gracie Bumpurs got the start in the circle for the Mavericks as she went on to throw 4.0 innings. The sophomore faced 18 batters and allowed two runs off four hits. Freshman lefty
Morgan Max came in to throw an inning followed by senior
Laura Henriksen who pitched the rest of the contest. Henriksen allowed one run off two hits across nine batters.
The Mavericks picked up the 6-4 win over Northern Colorado, giving Bumpurs her first win of the season.
PLAY BY PLAY: vs. Northern Colorado (W, 6-4)
- Outfielder Hukill ripped a three-run home run in the first inning that led the Mavericks to an early 3-0 lead with Murphy and Carreon on the bases.
- The Bears answered back in the second inning with one run from a double to right center to make it a 3-1 ball game.
- The Mavericks put together a double and two singles that extended their lead 4-1 before Northern Colorado scratched one more across to make it a two-run contest.
- Even with two more runs by the Bears, UTA managed to plate two insurance runs in the sixth inning and kept the Bears off the board ending in a 6-4 victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: vs. New Mexico State (L, 12-7)
Senior
Meagan Smith led the Mavericks at the plate against the Aggies going 4-4 with 2 RBI. Smith knocked her first long ball of the season that pushed UTA on the board first.
Shortstop
Jadyn Erickson and second baseman
Jessica Carreon both recorded two hits a piece with Carreon coming away with one RBI.
Transfer
Jessica Adams pitched 3.0 innings for the Mavs allowing six earned runs and seven hits. Adams faced 19 batters before getting replaced with
Morgan Max. Max threw just 0.2 innings before
Laura Henriksen threw the rest of the game.
The Mavericks produced 13 hits against the host but came up short, giving Adams the loss.
PLAY BY PLAY: vs. New Mexico State (L, 12-7)
- The Aggies got on the board first with one run before Smith tied things up with a solo home run.
- UTA piled on the runs in a breakout fourth inning as the squad scored four more runs off five singles to take a 5-1 lead.
- New Mexico State went on to score 10 more runs as the Aggies had a seven-run fourth inning to make it a 10-5 ball game.
- The Mavs scratched two more across before the Aggies scored their final run of the game but was not enough as the team came up short 12-7.
ON DECK
UTA will wrap up Troy Cox Classic action Saturday as the Mavs will play a doubleheader beginning at 9 a.m. MT against Southeastern Louisiana before immediately taking the field again at 11:30 a.m. MT to face Nebraska.
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