LAS CRUCES, N.M. – For the final road trip of the regular season, the UT Arlington softball team (17-23, 7-8) will head out west to New Mexico as the Mavericks will face the Aggies of New Mexico State for a three-game conference series beginning Friday, Apr. 21 through Saturday, Apr. 22 from the NM State Softball Complex.
The Aggies lead the overall series record between the Mavs, 14-12, with the most recent meeting coming back in February of 2022 where NM State defeated UTA, 12-7, in the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces. However, in that same tournament, the Mavericks beat the Aggies in a close one-run game, 6-5.
OPPONENT: New Mexico State (18-19) (7-8, WAC)
WHEN: Apr. 21-22
WHERE: Las Cruces, New Mexico | NM State Softball Complex
Game 1 at NM State (4/21/23) at 5:00 p.m. CST
Game 2 at NM State (4/21/23) at 7:30 p.m. CST
Game 3 at NM State (4/22/23) at 2:00 p.m. CST
UTA NOTES (17-23) (7-8, WAC)
- UTA is coming off a midweek loss at McNeese this past Wednesday as the Mavs now hold an overall record of 17-23.
- The Mavericks head into this weekend's conference series with the Aggies with a WAC record of 7-8 – equal to NM State – where UTA has picked up series wins against Southern Utah, Utah Tech and Stephen F. Austin.
- Freshman Marley Neises is currently on a 13-game hitting streak following a solid performance at the plate against the McNeese Cowgirls where she finished 2-3 with an RBI. Wednesday's outing went on to be the outfielder's 10th multi-hit game of the year.
- Neises paces UTA's bats with a .384 batting average, 38 hits and 21 RBI. Of the Mavs' 27 home runs, Neises, along with Lindsey Franklin, Meagan Smith and Sophie Wideman, all share a team-high of five home runs apiece.
- Three Mavericks are approaching .300 with Paris Brienesse (.297), Morgan Westbrook (.293) and Reagan Hukill (.286) trailing behind Neises.
- Jessica Adams leads the Maverick pitching rotation with over 132 innings of work as the sophomore sits on an ERA of 2.64. The righty has 54 strike outs on the year, 10 wins and seven complete games under her belt.
- Junior Gracie Bumpurs has been the other half of head coach Kara Dill's staff as Bumpurs has appeared in 30 games for UTA this season. The right-handed pitcher has thrown 93.2 innings, coming away with 33 strike outs.
KNOW YOUR OPPONENT – NEW MEXICO STATE (18-19) (7-8, WAC)
- The Aggies sit on an overall record of 18-19 with a 7-8 record in conference play. Despite taking the first game, New Mexico State dropped its final two games of the three-game series against Tarleton last weekend.
- Before its series against the Texans, NM State picked up back-to-back series wins at home against Sam Houston and Grand Canyon – who is currently ranked 2nd in the WAC.
- Utility player Kayla Bowen leads the Aggies with a .387 batting average as she has started in every game so far this season. The graduate student has a team-best 27 RBI, 43 hits and a .784 slugging percentage with 13 multi-hit games.
- Junior Jillian Taylor has the second-best batting average among the Aggie lineup of .366.
- Fellow junior Riley Carley, along with Bowen and Taylor, have 31 combined home runs between the three of them and 75 RBI. Carley, however, leads the way with 12 long balls.
- Junior pitcher Aydenne Brown has spent the most time in the circle for NM State with over 78 innings of work. Brown posts a staff-best 4.72 ERA and has logged 83 strike outs with eight wins.
ON DECK.
The Mavericks will close out regular season action with back-to-back weekends at Allan Saxe Field, starting with a three-game series against Tarleton beginning Friday, April 28.
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