ARLINGTON, Texas – UTA baseball (12-29) collected their second consecutive victory over Tarleton State University (13-27) with a 7-5 win on Tuesday night at Clay Gould Ballpark, breaking an 11-game losing streak.
Cade Citelli opened the game and spun three shutout innings with three strikeouts holding the Texans to two hits and a walk.
Trevor Pruitt collected his first career win tossing two and a third scoreless innings after taking over for
Gray Bailey.
Matt Novis nailed down his first career save, striking out two while only giving up one hit in three innings pitched.
The Mavericks scored seven runs on 11 hits led by
Zach Henry (2-3, 2B, RBI),
Nick Pierce (2-5, RBI),
Sam Crowell (2-3, R) and
Steven Saunders (1-4, 2 RBI). This was the first time scoring more than seven runs since the April 6 victory over Tarleton State, scoring 16 runs and the first double-digit hits output since April 10 in Little Rock.
In the top of the first, Citelli sat down two Texans with swinging strikeouts and was rewarded with immediate run support in the bottom half of the inning. The Mavericks offense batted around for four runs on five hits, chasing the opposing starter from the game after recording only one out. Highlights included a bases-loaded
Jaden Brown RBI single followed by a nine-pitch, two-RBI single lined into right field by Saunders and a
Tyler Rice RBI single.
UTA added insurance to their lead in the third inning after the bottom of the order was able to load the bases leading to a Pierce RBI single and
Tanner Rice walk to bring home a second run in the inning giving the Mavs a 6-0 advantage.
Tarleton answered back in the fourth with five runs on five hits, including a solo home run to open the inning to cut the home team's lead to 6-5.
Both sides had chances collectively stranding seven runners from the bottom of the fourth through the top of the seventh. After the seventh inning stretch, UT Arlington was able to load the bases once again through a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch. Henry drove in Matt Cavanagh for the seventh run of the game.
Novis retired the side in order in the eighth with back-to-back swinging strikeouts and shut the door in the ninth with backup from his defense.
UP NEXT
The Mavericks will enjoy an extended stay at home with a Sun Belt Conference weekend series against Arkansas State beginning on Friday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m.
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