ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington baseball team (16-16, 6-5 WAC) clinched the series win with a 7-1 victory over Utah Tech (8-22, 3-8 WAC) at Clay Gould Ballpark on Friday.
With the win, the Mavericks claimed their second WAC series of the season and have surpassed their overall win total from a season ago. With six conference wins, the Mavs are one win shy of tying their total conference wins from the previous campaign. UTA will look for the series sweep Saturday, April 8, and a perfect 4-0 record for the week.
The Mavs never trailed during the contest despite being outhit by the Trailblazers. UTA rode a five-run 3rd inning to put the pressure on Utah Tech for the remainder of the game.
Sam Crowell led the Mavericks offensively, tying his career high with three hits and three runs driven in. Crowell belted his second home run of the season in the 3rd, putting the exclamation point on the inning for the Mavs. Crowell now has two three-hit ball games on the year.
Tyson Pointer finished with one hit, a big two-run double to start the scoring barrage in the 3rd inning for UTA. The double marks Pointer's 13th of the season, which leads the team, and has him ranked in the top 20 nationally and near the top of the leaderboards in the WAC.
Tyler Rice finished with two hits and drove in one run while scoring two runs himself. The two hits marks Rice's fifth two-hit game on the season.
Wilson Galvan finished with two hits on the night while scoring one run. Galvan's two hits also marks his fifth two-hit performance for the year.
Tyce Armstrong returned to the UTA lineup in his second appearance of the season, missing time due to an injury, and drove in the Mavs first run of the game on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Connery Peters started on the mound for the Mavericks, pitching a gem, going 5.2 innings and giving up one run on eight hits while punching out three Utah Tech batters. With the performance, Peters picked up his first win on the season.
Matt Novis finished the game on the mound for the Mavs, going 2.2 innings and giving up one run on two hits. Novis posted a new career high with six punch outs on the night, surpassing the five he had against UTSA back on March 7, 2021.
The Mavericks plated six runs in the first 3 innings of play while holding the Trailblazers to none. Utah Tech scratched a run across in the 5th to make it a 6-1 game. The Mavs plated their final run in the bottom of the 8th while the Trailblazers scored one run in the top of the 9th to round out the scoring outputs for the game. Utah Tech outhit UTA, 11 hits to the Mavs seven.
The Mavs pitching staff struck out 10 Trailblazer batters while only issuing one walk on the night in a dominating performance on the mound.
NEXT UP
The series finale is set for a 12 p.m. start time on Saturday, April 8. The Mavs are looking for the sweep and a perfect 4-0 record for the week, defeating Lamar earlier this week. With a win, the Mavs would push their winning streak to four games.
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