ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington baseball team (23-20, 13-8 WAC) welcomes California Baptist (24-21, 12-9 WAC) to Arlington for a big three-game WAC series showdown set to begin Friday, May 5, at 1:00 p.m. at Clay Gould Ballpark.
 
The first game on Friday, May 5, was originally scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start time, but due to projected inclement weather in the forecast, the game was moved up to a 1 p.m. start time.
 
The series continues with game two on Saturday, May 6, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. and will conclude on Sunday, May 7, with a noon start time. Game three was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. but was moved up to noon earlier in the week. 
 
UTA NOTES

• Currently sit in third in the most recent WAC standings.
• UTA is hitting their stride, holding a 6-4 record in their last 10 games. The Mavericks have won four straight conference series and are looking to make it five in a row. The Mavs hold a 9-6 record at Clay Gould Ballpark.
• Comes off one of the more exciting wins in recent memory, a series clinching walk off home run to straight away center field. The Mavs came into the bottom of the 9th down three and rattled off four runs without recording an out. 
• Ryan Black continues to impress as one of the top freshmen in the country, his 63 hits on the season has him tied for 75th in the NCAA, the 6th best among freshmen in the country and 2nd in the WAC behind Sacramento State's Wehiwa Aloy (68). Black leads the team in batting average, hitting .371 on the year which is 7th best in the WAC, second best among freshmen in the WAC, only behind Sac State's Aloy (.372). Black leads the Mavs with 49 RBIs on the season. In 170 at-bats on the year, Black has 11 doubles, seven home runs while slugging .559 and scored 40 runs for the year.
• Garrison Berkley comes into the game carrying a 31-game reached base streak, the longest such streak on the team, while also sporting a seven-game hit streak. In WAC play, Berkley leads the Mavs hitting .395 in 21 conference games, while hitting .368 overall for the season. Berkley leads the team with 16 doubles, which has him 52nd nationally and 3rd in the conference. He leads UTA with 64 hits in 174 at-bats and scoring 46 runs. Berkley has one triple and three home runs to go along with 31 RBIs out of the leadoff spot in the lineup. 
• In 167 at-bats, Tyson Pointer is hitting .311 for the year, with 16 doubles, one triple and nine home runs while leading the team with a .575 slugging percentage. Pointer is currently riding a four-game hit streak. He is the only Maverick to record two games where he drove in five or more runs.
• Gabe Starks stands as one of the best starters in the WAC, sporting a 4.92 ERA, tops on the team among qualified starters while punching out 59 batters and holding opponents to a .231 average. Starks has started 11 games on the mound for the Mavs, tops in the conference and 20th in the NCAA. Holds a perfect 5-0 record for the year.
• Wilson Galvan is hitting .308 on the season, smacking seven doubles, one triple and three home runs on the season while being fifth on the team with 27 RBIs. He is currently riding a 30-game reached base streak, second longest streak on the team.
• Tyler Rice has started at multiple positions for the Mavs and came up big in some key situations. Rice is hitting .281 on the year with five doubles and three home runs and driven in 13 runs. In his 114 at-bats, Rice has been punched out 13 times, which is about a strikeout every 8.8 at-bats, making Rice one of the toughest hitters to strike out in college baseball, 108th in the NCAA and 6th hardest in the WAC.
• Ben Lumsden leads the Mavs with 10 home runs and three triples on the year. He is second on the team, slugging .564 for the season. His home run total is six more than the home run leader from the previous season (4).
• UTA is the second most hit team in the WAC and 121st in the NCAA, getting plunked 54 times. Galvan leads the team and has been hit 12 times this season.
• The Mavs are the third most walked team in the WAC, drawing 195 walks on the season.
• UTA has yet to be shut out on the season.

 
UTA IN THE RANKINGS

• 88th in the updated RPI poll, second highest in the WAC behind Abilene Christian at 86th. 
• Out of 295 teams ranked, UTA ranks near the top percentile in a few categories:
• 49th in the NCAA and 4th in the WAC in doubles with 93 on the year. 46th in the NCAA and 3rd in the WAC in doubles per game with 2.16.
• Hitting .295 on the season as a team, which is 64th best in the NCAA and 5th in the WAC. Ranked 52nd in the NCAA in hits with 444 for the season which is 5th best in the WAC.
• With a .391 team on-base percentage, the Mavs come in at 85th nationally and 4th best in the WAC.
• Come in at 98th in the NCAA and 3rd in the WAC in slugging percentage, .462 for the year.

 
PROGRAM HIGHS
The 49 total home runs hit as a team are the fifth most in program history, trailing the 1993 team who hit 53. The 1998 squad hit the most in the program record books with 72 for the year.
 
UTA is currently slugging .463 on the year as a team, if the season were to end today, this would be the fifth best team mark in program history and the highest mark since 2014.
 
CBU NOTES

• Come into the series holding an 11-12 record on the road, while going 7-3 in their last 10 games and currently riding a two-game win streak. Defeated UC Santa Barbara in a midweek show down for an impressive 6-4 win over the Gauchos who have been receiving national recognition is some polls.
• Currently hold a 12-9 conference record and sit in fourth in the current WAC standings, right behind the Mavs making this a huge conference series for the two teams. 
• Have four players sporting a batting average over the .300 plateau. Garret Ostrander leads the way for the Lancers hitting .353 on the year. Cole Howarth is hitting .330 for the year while Michael Carpentier is hitting .328. Mitchel Smith rounds out the list for eligible hitters at .319 for the season.
• In 62.2 innings pitched on the mound for the Lancers, Liam Rocha has established himself as one of the top pitchers in the conference holding a 2.44 ERA which is 21st best in the nation and tops in the WAC. Rocha has punched out 80 batters on the season which is 28th best in the NCAA and tops in the WAC. He has also been named the WAC pitcher of the week three times.
• Hitting .281 with a .461 slugging percentage on the season as a team.
• CBU have posted two shutouts so far this season, that has them ranked 72nd in the NCAA and fourth in the WAC.

 
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the first ever meeting between the two programs, as Cal Baptist competed in Division II during UTA's first stint in the WAC back in 2013.
 
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