MESA, Ariz. – The UT Arlington baseball team fell to UT Rio Grande Valley on day one of the 2023 Western Athletic Conference Tournament by a final score of 14-4 in 7 innings. The Mavericks fall to the loser's bracket where it is now win or go home.
 
UTA finished with six hits led by Garrison Berkley who finished 3-4 with a solo home run and one RBI. Steven Saunders finished with a double while Ryan Black and Ben Lumsden each finished 1-3. 
 
Tyson Pointer finished with one RBI on a fielder's choice while Cade Sumbler knocked in on RBI on a sacrifice fly. Wilson Galvan extended his on base streak to 41 games by drawing a walk to conclude the offensive output for the Mavs.
 
UTA used four pitchers for the game with Zach Norris getting the start on the mound. He was tagged for the loss after going 3.2 innings and giving up six runs, five earned, on five hits while striking out three. Jack Hagan (2.1 IP), Hunter Marshall (0.2 IP) and Matt Novis (0.1 IP) to round out the pitching for the Mavs.
 
The Mavs escaped the top of the 1st inning, leaving two Vaquero runners stranded on base after a fielder's choice to second base. UTA would go on to plate two runs by way of a couple of fielder's choices and an error by the Vaqueros defense to take a 2-0 lead after 1 inning of play.
 
UTA would cruise through the 2nd and 3rd inning with Norris punching out three UTRGV hitters. Offensively, the Mavs could not push any runs across despite getting two runners on in the bottom of the 2nd inning.
 
The Vaqueros would go on to score runs in each of the next four innings, starting by plating six in the top of the 4th inning to go up 6-2. UTRGV would score one run in the top of the 5th, two in the top of the 6th and would push across five more runs in the top of the 7th inning.
 
After the 1st, the Mavs offense stalled as they were unable to plate a run in the next four innings before breaking the dry spell to plate one in the bottom of the 6th inning thanks to a Sumbler sacrifice fly.
 
UTA would plate their final run in the bottom of the 7th inning off the bat of Berkely who smacked a home run to left field to make it 14-4. The Mavs would line out to first base to end the game, stranding two runners.
 
NEXT UP
The No. 6 seed Mavs are set to take on the No. 8 seed Lancers of California Baptist in an elimination game on Wednesday, May 24, with first pitch coming at 2 p.m.
 
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