ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington baseball team (25-25, 15-12 WAC) welcomes Utah Valley (29-21, 14-11 WAC) to Clay Gould Ballpark for the Mavericks final WAC regular season home series in what is a huge conference matchup with major implications for seeding in the upcoming conference tournament.
 
The top four teams receive a bye in the WAC tournament. The Mavs currently sit in a five-way tie for third place in the WAC standings with Utah Valley, California Baptist, Seattle U and Abilene Christian. 
 
With a series win this weekend and a Cal Baptist series loss, the Mavs are guaranteed a top-four finish in the conference standings and the coveted bye heading in the conference tournament. If UTA and Cal Baptist finished tied, the Mavs own the tiebreaker and would take the higher seed.
 
Game 1 of the series is set to begin Thursday, May 18, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. It is also senior weekend for the Mavs, as a special graduation ceremony is scheduled for Friday, May 19, beginning at 5:20 p.m. Saturday, May 20, is Senior Day, which is slated to begin at 11:40 a.m. 
 
UTA NOTES

• UTA carries a 11-7 record at home, holding an 8-2 record in their last 10 home games.
• The Mavs have 10 wins on the season when they enter the 7th inning or later either tied or trailing.
• UTA has the third highest RPI ranking in the WAC, coming in at 106 behind Grand Canyon (73) and Sam Houston (81).
• As a team, UTA has hit 100 doubles on the year, which has them ranked 83rd in the NCAA. They average 2.00 doubles per game, 84th best in the nation. 
• The Mavs have 496 hits on the season so far as a team, 109th best in the nation. UTA carries a .288 team batting average into the series which has them ranked 106th in the NCAA.
• As a pitching staff, the Mavs average 4.00 walks allowed per 9 innings which is 61st best in the NCAA and third best in the WAC.
• Starting pitcher Gabe Starks has started 13 games on the mound this season for the Mavs, which has him tied for 20th in the NCAA and the top spot in the WAC. In 67 innings pitched, has a 5-1 record with a team-high 68 punch outs.
• Garrison Berkley has smacked 18 doubles on the year, tops in the WAC and 60th best in the NCAA. Berkley carries a .350 average for the year, tops on the team, and is the only Mav to start in all 50 games.
• Wilson Galvan holds a team-high reached base streak which stands at 37 games for the year. Galvan is hitting .310 on the season with eight doubles, one triple and three home runs. He has been hit by a pitch 15 times for the year, which has him 60th in the country and 2nd in the WAC. The 15 times has Galvan tied for the top spot in the UTA record books for a single season (Danny Slinkman – 2008). 
• Ryan Black leads the Mavs with 52 RBIs on the season. Black is hitting .345 on the year with 12 doubles and seven home runs in his rookie campaign. His six sacrifice flies are tops in the WAC and 33rd in the NCAA.
• Tyson Pointer is hitting .298 on the year with 15 doubles, one triple and nine home runs. He boasts a .529 slugging percentage which leads the team. Pointer has two games this season in which he has five or more RBIs, tops on the team.
• Tyler Rice has started at multiple positions for the Mavs and came up big in some key situations. In his 124 at-bats, Rice has been punched out 13 times, which is about a strikeout every 9.5 at-bats, making Rice one of the toughest hitters to strike out in college baseball, 75th in the NCAA and 3rd in the WAC.
• In 43 games, Ben Lumsden leads the Mavs with 11 home runs and three triples on the year. His home run total is seven more than the home run leader from the previous season (4).
• 25 of the Mavs games this season have been decided by three runs or less.
• UTA has yet to be shut out on the season.

 
PROGRAM HIGHS
The 51 total home runs hit as a team are the fifth most in program history, trailing the 1993 team who hit 53 for fourth most. The 1998 squad hit the most in the program record books with 72 for the year.
 
UTA is currently slugging .444 on the year as a team, if the season were to end today, they would be tied with the 2002 squad for seventh in program history and would be the highest mark since 2014.
 
The pitching staff has registered 14 saves on the season, tied with the 2011 team for the seventh most in program history in a single season.
 
On March 24 against the University of Houston, the Mavs broke the school record for most home runs in a single game, hitting eight as a team. The record had stood for nearly 30 years, being set back on April 10, 1993.
 
UTAH VALLEY NOTES

• The Wolverines hold a 12-13 record on the road and come into the series riding a six-game win streak.
• Utah Valley is hitting .289 as a team with 53 home runs, while the pitching staff holds a 6.12 ERA.
• Three Wolverines enter the weekend hitting over .300 on the year, Daniel Dickinson (.381), Patrick Mills (.306), and Cole Jordan (.304). All three have also hit nine home runs on the year as well.
• Casey Anderson has appeared in 13 games on the mound for the Wolverines, making six starts. He holds a 3-1 record while posting a 3.02 ERA in 56.2 innings pitched. Anderson has struck out 79 batters opposed to walking 16 on the season.
• 25 of the Wolverines games this season have been decided by three runs or less.

 
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the first ever series between the Wolverines and Mavs.
 
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