ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington Mavericks (9-16, 3-4 SBC) won the first game of a three-game conference series 5-2 against the ULM Warhawks (8-15-1, 3-3-1 SBC) at Clay Gould Ballpark on Friday.
 
Tanner King (W, 2-2) threw a career-high seven innings and seven strikeouts while only giving up two runs on three hits and one walk.  Gray Bailey locked down his first career save with two innings of shutout work, striking out five and giving up two hits and one walk.
 
Offensively, UT Arlington was led by Matt Cavanagh (3-4, 2 RBI) who raised his batting average to an even .500 (10-20, 8 RBI) in Sun Belt Conference play while starting all seven games.  Oscar Ponce (2-3) and Zach Henry (1-3) scored twice in the contest for the Mavs.
 
UTA stormed out of the gate in the bottom of the first inning, collecting three runs on four hits.  Consecutive one-out singles from Henry and Ponce set the home side up for RBI from Wilson Galvan, Jaden Brown and Cavanagh for an early 3-0 lead.
 
Through the first three innings, King matched his season-best mark of five strikeouts while not allowing a hit.
 
The Mavericks extended their lead after a hit by pitch, single and walk loaded the bases which chased the opposing starting pitcher.  Henry and Ponce would score on a wild pitch and a ground out to push the advantage to 5-0 over ULM.
 
The Warhawks broke through in the top of the seventh inning plating two runs on two hits.
 
Pinned to a 5-2 lead, Bailey took over in the eighth inning and sealed the victory with five of the six outs he recorded coming via strikeouts.
 
UP NEXT
UT Arlington will be back at Clay Gould Ballpark on Saturday at 2 p.m. to take on the Warhawks in game two of the series.

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