SACRAMENTO, CA – The UT Arlington baseball team (18-16, 8-5 WAC) defeated the Sacramento State Hornets (17-17, 5-8 WAC) in the first game of a three-game series by a final score of 9-7 on Friday night at John Smith Field.
Gabe Starks (W, 4-0) started for the Mavericks, tossing 6.0 innings in the win. He allowed six runs, four earned, on five hits while tying his career high in strikeouts with eight.
Matt Novis pitched 2 shutout innings in relief of Starks, allowing no hits while punching out two Hornet batters.
Gray Bailey finished off the game, pitching the 9th, to pick up his third save of the year.
Offensively, the Mavs finished with 15 hits on the night, the 15th time they've finished with double digits in the hit column.
In his first game back since March 24,
Matt Cavanagh returned from injury in style with four base hits, a new career high for the senior. He also drove in two runs and scored two runs himself to cap off his perfect 4-4 night.
Wilson Galvan had himself an impressive game as well, finishing with three hits and four runs driven in while also scoring a run.
Sam Crowell extended his hitting streak to five games with two hits tonight. He now has nine hits in his last five games. He finished tonight with one RBI and scored three times while also drawing one walk.
Cade Sumbler finished with two hits and one run batted in while scoring once.
Garrison Berkley also finished with two hits and scoring one run.
Tyce Armstrong drove in one run on one hit while scoring one run.
Tyson Pointer rounded out the hitting output for the Mavericks with one hit.
The Hornets jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 2 innings of play. The Mavericks chopped that in half in the top of the 3rd inning, plating one run.
The 5th, 6th and 7th innings proved to be crucial for the Mavs, as they plated eight of their nine runs in those innings while holding the Hornets to four runs in that span. Sacramento State would score one more run in the 9th before UTA shut the door for good to claim their eighth conference victory.
With the win tonight, the Mavericks move into fourth place in the current WAC standings and extend their winning streak to a season high five games.
NEXT UP
Game two of this WAC series is on deck for Saturday, April 15, with first pitch slated for 4 p.m.
Connery Peters will take the mound for the Mavs.
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