MOBILE, Ala. - The UT Arlington baseball team (6-10) will look to carry over their midweek momentum into the first Sun Belt Conference series of the year as they travel to Mobile to take on the 2021 SBC Champion South Alabama Jaguars (12-3).
 

PITCHING MATCHUP
First Pitch	UT Arlington	South Alabama
Friday, 6:30 pm CT	RHP Michael Wong	RHP Miles Smith
Saturday, 6:30 pm CT	RHP Cade Citelli	RHP Matt Boswell
Sunday, 1:00 pm CT	TBD	RHP JoJo Booker
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Game Notes (PDF) | USA Game Notes

UTA NOTES

• UTA has lived off starting and ending strong so far this year.  The first three innings and final three innings have accounted for 57 of the Maverick's 80 runs on the year (71 percent). Twelve of those runs have come in the 9th inning alone. UTA only scored 9 runs in the 9th inning for the entire 2021 season.
• The Mavericks bats caught fire on Tuesday night's win over Abilene Christian, finishing with 14 hits and 14 runs. Eight of the nine starters finished with a hit and a run scored in the win. The lone starter not to was Zach Henry, who only had one at-bat.
• Junior INF Tyler Rice has come on as of late with five of his six RBI on the season coming in the last five games. Through 12 games played, he is the 5th hardest batter in the nation to strikeout with just one on the year.
• Maverick relievers have been dominate on the bump for the Mavericks so far this season. When leading after six innings, the bullpen has been able to put away the game for UTA as the Mavs are 4-0 with a lead after six innings.
• The UTA pitching staff hasn't given many free passes to opposing batters through 15 games.  They are walking just 3.11 batters per nine innings - 29th best in the NCAA.
• Despite starting just five games on the season, Cade Sumbler has made the most of his opportunities as he currently leads all Mavericks with three multi-RBI games.
• The beginning of the game has been a determining factor for the Mavericks. When leading after three innings, UTA is 4-0 on the season. On the flip side, the Mavericks are 0-8 when trailing after the third inning.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | South Alabama

• Right fielder Miles Simington enters the weekend ranked fifth nationally in hits per game (2.00), and 11th in batting average (.473) which leads the Sun Belt Conference. Simington hit .571 in three games last weekend at Jacksonville State with one double, one home run, five RBIs, two runs scored, an .857 slugging percentage and .563 on-base percentage.
• South Alabama ranks sixth nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (6.11), seventh in WHIP (1.01) and 10th in ERA (2.51). Offensively, the Jags rank eighth in the country in triples per game (0.56) and 13th in triples (8). USA leads the SBC in ERA, opposing batting average (.190), hits allowed (95), runs allowed (52), earned runs allowed (39) and walks allowed (46), and tied for the league lead in saves (6).
• South Alabama has won 11 of its last 12 games, dating back to a 6-5 win over Southern Miss in 13 innings on Feb. 22 in Hattiesburg, Miss.
• South Alabama is 9-0 when leading after six innings this season, and 1-3 when trailing after six frames.

SERIES HISTORY
The Mavericks and Jaguars have had a competitive series since UTA joined the Sun Belt in 2014, splitting the 22 previous meetings 11-11. The two teams met in the SBC Semifinals a season ago with the Jaguars coming out on top, using a two run 8th inning to win 5-4.

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