ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington baseball team (25-26, 15-13 WAC) fell to the Utah Valley Wolverines (30-21, 15-11 WAC) in 8 innings on Thursday night at Clay Gould Ballpark, 13-3.
The Mavericks tallied eight hits in the game led by
Tyson Pointer who finished 1-4 with 2 RBIs, his 46th and 47th of the year.
Ryan Black went 2-4 and scored a run.
Garrison Berkley had one hit in three at-bats while scoring two runs in the effort.
Wilson Galvan stretched his team-high reached base streak to an impressive 38 games with a base hit and two walks tonight.
Steven Saunders,
Tyce Armstrong and
Ben Lumsden all finished with one hit to round out the offensive output for the Mavs.
UTA used four pitchers on the game with
Gabe Starks getting the start on the mound. Starks was tagged for the loss after giving up eight runs on six hits, dropping his record to 5-2 for the season.
Bryce Hackett came in relief of Starks, going 3.2 innings and giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits.
Thomas Kuykendall relieved Hackett and tossed 3.0 strong innings, giving up two runs on two hits while punching out five Wolverine batters. The five strikeouts ties Kuykendall's career high.
Hunter Marshall threw the final inning, giving up one hit and striking out three.
Utah Valley started the game off with back-to-back base hits followed by a walk to load the bases. After a fly out to right field, the Wolverines would plate seven runs before the Mavs recorded the second out. The Wolverines would go on to score three more runs before the Mavs escaped the top of the 1st with Utah Valley leading 10-0.
The Mavs would get one run back in the bottom of the 1st off the bat of Pointer to score Berkley from third, making it a 10-1 game. The Mavs couldn't muster any more offense as they would strand two to end the inning.
Both teams would go on to trade runs in the 3rd inning, with the Mavs run coming via a wild pitch from the Wolverines starter, 11-2.
After a scoreless 4th, game play was paused due to a power outage. After 55 minutes, the game resumed in the 5th with Kuykendall entering and retiring the Wolverines in order. UTA would go on to plate one run in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Pointer single through the left side of the infield to score Black from second, making it an 11-3 game.
Both pitching staffs would hold the offenses scoreless in the 6th and 7th innings. Utah Valley goes on to score two runs in the top of the 8th. After an Armstrong single, the Wolverines would retire the next three UTA hitters, ending the game with a final score of 13-3.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
With the loss, the Mavs now sit in seventh place in the current WAC standings. Abilene Christian holds the same conference record as the Mavs but holds the tiebreaker over UTA. The Mavs trail Utah Valley and Seattle U by a game who sit in third and fourth place respectively. California Baptist holds sole possession of fifth place by half a game over ACU and UTA. The Mavs hold a 1.5-game lead over UT Rio Grande Valley who sits in eighth place.
Eight teams make the conference tournament, with the top four seeds receiving a bye.
NEXT UP
The Mavs are back in action on Friday, May 19, as the take on Utah Valley in the second game of the Mavs last home WAC series. First pitch was originally scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start time, but has been bumped up to 1 p.m. due to projected inclement weather. The special graduation ceremony that was on tap during pregame will now commence on Saturday's game along with a special senior day celebration.
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