ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington's Jade Moreno tossed her way into UTA Softball program history Friday night from Allan Saxe Field after an 8-0 shutout against Grambling State as she became the seventh player to log a no-hitter.

The Mavs showed a change of pace after taking a 9-0 loss to Incarnate Word, but freshman Moreno and UTA's offensive efforts in game two against GSU highlighted the night.

The righty recorded a remarkable outing on the mound after tabbing her second complete game of the season. Moreno earned her second win of her career as the previous win came from a 1-0 shutout against DePaul  back on Feb.18. In addition, the Corpus Christi native reached a new career-high of seven strike outs in a single game across 18 batters.

"Jade has steadily improved week after week," stated Dill. "Her willingness to learn from experiences and her competitive nature led to her great performance tonight."



INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: vs. Incarnate Word (L, 9-0) 5 Innings
Despite putting up six hits against the Cardinals, the Mavericks struggled to plate any across leading to a 9-0 loss in five innings.

Fifth year Lindsey Franklin provided a big bat as the righty finished 2-2 at the plate. UTA's Camille Corona (1-2), Zaia Castruita (1-2), Nikki Donahue (1-2) and Kailee Bautista (1-1) all contributed with one hit apiece.

Head coach Kara Dill utilized three pitchers as senior Gracie Bumpurs got the start – her sixth of the season. After tossing just over one inning, Bumpurs was replaced by Emilie Hoelscher.

Hoelscher faced just five batters before lefty freshman Abi Gutierrez came in and finished the game. With the Mavs' unable to fight back, Bumpurs got the loss.



INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: vs. Grambling State (W, 8-0) 5 Innings
It was a 180-turnaround from the Mavericks against the Tigers of Grambling State as both offense, defense and pitching showed out.

UTA piled on a double-digit hit total with ten on the night and 16 on the day as Jessica Adams (2-3, 2 RBI) and Valerie Ornelas (2-3, 1 RBI) led the way with multi-hit contests. Adams has proved herself as a true two-player as she collected her second home run of the weekend with the first coming from UTA's 13-5 win over Texas A&M – Corpus Christi in the Boerner Invitational opener (Feb. 29).

Sharing the offensive credit was Corona (1-2, 1 RBI), Franklin (1-2), Castruita (1-3), Kaitlyn Sailor (1-3), Alaina Hampton (1-2) and Marley Neises (1-2).

With Moreno's dominant performance, the freshman now sits on an even record of 2-2 on the year in the circle.

ON DECK
The Mavericks will play a single game against UTSA on Saturday, Mar. 2 at 4:30 p.m. as part of day three of the four-day Boerner Invitational from Allan Saxe Field.

The Boerner Invitational is named in honor of Melissa Boerner, a former UTA softball captain who was killed by a drunk driver the day before her senior year began in 1998. The tournament is put on to help raise awareness to the importance of responsible drinking.

 

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