ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington baseball team (23-20, 13-8 WAC) walked off UT Rio Grande Valley (24-18, 10-11 WAC) in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Clay Gould Ballpark, defeating the Vaqueros 8-7 with a four-run 9th inning which culminated with a
Ryan Black two-run home run to give the Mavericks the win and clinched the series.
With the win, the Mavs have now won their previous four conference series' and sit alone in third in the current WAC standings, a game back of second.
UTA belted out 14 hits as a team, with every starter recording a base hit, led by the hero Black who finished 3-4 with the game winning home run and three RBIs on the afternoon.
Ben Lumsden went 2-3 and finished with three RBIs, all three coming via a home run, his 10th of the season.
Tyson Pointer and
Tyce Armstrong both finished with two hits for the game.
Wilson Galvan finished with a big base hit and two RBIs.
Garrison Berkley ended his game with a big double and scored once.
Tyler Rice,
Cade Sumbler and
Matt Cavanagh each finished with a base hit to round out the offensive output for the Mavs.
The Mavs used three pitchers on the afternoon, with
Caden Noah getting the start on the mound for UTA. Noah went 2.1 innings, giving up five runs on four base hits while punching out three.
Zach Norris relieved Noah and shoved for 3.2 innings, giving up no runs on four base hits and striking out two.
Matt Novis finished the game for UTA to pick up the win. Novis went 3.0 innings, giving up two runs on four base hits and struck out two batters.
With only one base hit amongst the two teams through the first 2 innings of play, the Vaqueros jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the 3rd behind a pair of two-run home runs and an RBI single to right.
In the bottom of the 4th, UTRGV were able to get a quick two outs before back-to-back singles from Pointer and Sumbler put runners on first and third with Lumsden due up. Lumsden proceeded to smack a three-run home run to right center field off the scoreboard to cut the deficit to two, 5-3.
After a scoreless 5th and 6th for both teams, the Vaqueros plated two runs in the top of the 7th to push their lead to four runs, 7-3. The Mavs answered back, plating a run of their own off the bat of Black that scored Rice from second to make it a 7-4 ball game.
A scoreless 8th brought us to the 9th where we would see fireworks after the Mavs would hold UTRGV scoreless in the top half of the inning.
The bottom half of the 9th started with a Rice single on a 1-2 count to left center. Berkley followed Rice with a double on a 2-2 down the left field line that got Rice to third. The Vaqueros would call on the bullpen with Galvan stepping up to the plate.
Galvan would go on to single to left field on a 2-2 count to drive in Rice and Berkley to make it a one-run game. Black would step up to the plate with nobody out and Galvan on first. Black would get down in the count, 1-2, before fouling off two tough pitches to stay alive. In the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Black would rocket one towards center that kept carrying before hitting the top of the center field wall to ignite fireworks for the Mavs.
UTA scored four runs on four consecutive hits, all coming on two-strike counts, to claim the game and series over UTRGV.
NEXT UP
The Mavs continue their homestand when they welcome California Baptist to Clay Gould Ballpark for a three-game WAC series beginning on Friday, May 5, with game time slated for 6:30 p.m. Game two of the series will take place on Saturday, May 6, with scheduled 2 p.m. start time. The series will wrap up on Sunday, May 7, with first pitch coming at 1 p.m.
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