ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington baseball team will commence the 2023 season this weekend with a three-game road trip. The Mavericks will take on Texas A&M - Corpus Christi for three games (February 17-19) before returning to Arlington.
 
The season kicks off on Friday with game 1 of the series slated for a 6:30 pm start time at Chapman Field. Game 2 is set for Saturday with first pitch slated for 2 pm. The opening series concludes on Sunday with a 1 pm start time.
 
UTA NOTES

• This marks the sixth straight season that the Mavericks and Islanders have been scheduled to open against each other. The Islanders took the opening series last season 2 games to 1.
• Head Coach Clay Van Hook enters his 1st season at the helm of the UTA baseball program.
• The Mavericks return some familiar faces with a good mixture of new, led by redshirt sophomore Zach Henry who led the team in most offensive categories last season, including a team high .303 batting average.
• UTA returns 11 position players, 9 pitchers and have 16 newcomers, 2 of them being true freshman.
• The first-year coaching staff wasted no time in bringing in a top tier recruiting class, highlighted by their transfers which Baseball America tabbed as a top transfer class among mid-majors. Highlighted by right-handed pitcher Gabe Starks (Arkansas), Garrison Berkley (TCU) and Bryce Hackett (Tarleton). 
• The Mavericks have once again put together a resume-worthy schedule, facing five non-conference opponents who appeared in an NCAA Regional last season, with two of them reaching Omaha.
  • Dallas Baptist (Feb. 21 & Apr. 18)
  • TCU (Feb. 22 & Mar. 7)
  • Oklahoma (Mar. 1 & May 16)
  • Texas Tech (Mar. 14-15)
  • Texas (May 9)

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | TEXAS A&M - CORPUS CHRISTI

• The Islanders are coming off a 27-28 season that saw them 10-14 in the Southland Conference and going 1-2 in the Southland Conference tournament.
• Four Islanders were selected to the Southland Conference Preseason Team. Tre Jones (outfielder), Brendan Ryan (outfielder), Zach Garcia (left-handed pitcher) and Josh Caraway (catcher)
• Returners Jones and Caraway combined for 21 of the clubs 55 homeruns on the season.
• Corpus Christi hit .291 as a team last season and return four of five of their highest batting averages - Jones (.354), Ryan (.327), Max Puls (.314) and Leo Markotic (.300).

SERIES HISTORY
This marks the 52nd-54th meeting between the Islanders and UTA. The Mavericks own the all-time series over the Islanders 32-19, including a 10-8 record in Corpus Christi. UTA is 6-4 over the last ten games against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. The Mavericks average about 7 runs a game against the Islanders. This series dates back to 2004.
 
ON DECK
The Mavericks will have a quick turnaround as they face Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Globe Life Field. First pitch is slated for 6:30 pm. Then on Wednesday, Feb. 22, UTA travels to Fort Worth for a 6 pm matchup with TCU.

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