ARLINGTON, Texas – The University of Texas at Arlington (8-14, 2-3 Sun Belt) won 7-6 on a walk-off against Troy University (15-7, 3-2 Sun Belt) at Clay Gould Ballpark on Saturday.
Michael Wong (ND, 1-2) started for UTA and pitched a career-high 6.0 innings. He struck out five with one walk and gave up two earned runs on seven hits.
Cade Citelli (1.0 IP),
David Moffat (1.0 IP),
Connery Peters (0.1 IP) and
Jack Hagan (W, 1-0) pieced together a winning effort from the bullpen.
The Mavericks tallied seven runs on 12 hits with
Oscar Ponce (3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) providing the winning run via a sacrifice fly.
Steven Saunders (2-3, R) and
Zach Henry (2-5, R) both had multi-hit days with seven of the nine starters collecting a hit.
Wong methodically navigated his way through the first two innings of work with two swinging strikeouts on a total of 20 pitches.
Troy broke the scoreless tie in the third with timely hitting and a dose of small ball to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.
The Mavs leveled the score in the fifth with a
Cade Sumbler walk and Henry single, which set the table for
Tanner Rice's RBI single.
In the top half of the sixth, Wong escaped a bases-loaded jam with a swinging strikeout and defensive support to retain the 1-1 score.
UTA gave the visitors a taste of their own medicine with a small ball showcase of their own in the bottom of the sixth inning. Inning-opening singles from Saunders and Ponce led to a sacrifice bunt from
Boone Montgomery, moving the runners into scoring position. The four and five-hole hitters would score on a balk and a subsequent sacrifice bunt from Matt Cavanagh giving the home team a 3-1 lead.
The Trojans would strike in both the seventh and eighth inning to tie the game at 3-3.
Despite losing the lead, the Mavericks returned in the home half of the eighth with pinch hitter
Jaden Brown reaching base on a misplayed pop up behind first base. Ponce stepped into the box and sent a ball flying down the right field foul line for an RBI double. Montgomery matched Ponce's run-scoring, extra-base effort with a double of his own to give UTA the 5-3 edge.
The visiting side flipped the game on its proverbial head in the top of the ninth with a three-run home run which gave Troy a 6-5 advantage.
With only three outs remaining, UT Arlington loaded the bases with a single from Sumbler, a Henry double and Arte Ramirez intentional walk.
Wilson Galvan then saw four straight balls to even the score at 6-6. Ponce made his way to the plate and sent the first pitch flying into right field with pinch runner
Nick Pierce ready to spring toward home as the ball hit the leather. A head-first slide into home sealed the comeback, a conference win and series victory.
"After the home run in the eighth, we could have hung our heads, but we came right back and responded," head coach
Darin Thomas said. "It was a good fight."
UP NEXT
UTA will finish the three-game set at Clay Gould Ballpark on Sunday, March 27 at 1 p.m. against Troy.
