ABILENE, Texas – Coming off a major midweek victory over Baylor, the UT Arlington softball team will turn its focus to its three-game WAC series with Abilene Christian that is scheduled to begin with a doubleheader on Friday, Apr. 20 from Poly Wells Field.

SERIES INFO
OPPONENT: Abilene Christian (15-24, 7-10)
WHEN: April 19-20
WHERE: Abilene, Texas | Poly Wells Field
Game 1: Friday, Apr. 19 | 3 PM
Game 2: Friday, Apr. 19 | 5 PM
Game 3: Saturday, Apr. 20 | 1 PM
 
SERIES HISTORY
Abilene Christian: UTA leads, 7-6
4/15/2023: L, 7-3 | Arlington, TX
4/15/2023: W, 16-7 (5) | Arlington, TX
4/14/2023: L, 8-1 | Arlington, TX
4/12/2022: W, 9-0 (5) | Abilene, TX
2/9/2020: W, 2-0 | College Station, TX

UTA NOTES (18-26, 8-8)

• UTA is fresh off a stellar 4-3 win over power-five opponent, Baylor as the midweek win marked the first against BU since Feb. 22, 2022 when the Mavericks defeated the Bears 12-3 in five innings from Allan Saxe Field.
• Offensively, the Mavs were led by Marley Neises (2-4, 1 RBI) and Nikki Donahue (2-3, 1 RBI) as the pair logged multi-hit games. Donahue launched her first home run of the season in the top of the second, following a solo shot by fifth year Lindsey Franklin. Donahue has put up six hits across her last seven at-bats, sitting at a now .325 overall batting average.
• By the bottom of the third inning, it remained a 3-2 ball game until Neises came in clutch with an RBI-double that plated the tying run for the Mavs. Designated player Kaylee Cavazos followed up with a clutch RBI-single up the middle which brought around the go-ahead run.
• Camille Corona has undoubtedly impacted head coach Kara Dill's lineup this season as the transfer holds the highest batting average among the Mavs of .402 – 5th in all the conference. With 14 multi-hit efforts, 51 hits and a .462 on-base percentage, the fifth year excels on the field as well with a .991 fielding percentage, committing just one error.
• Veteran returner Lindsey Franklin leads the way with 28 RBI off 41 hits and a .546 slugging percentage. Franklin now leads in home runs after launching her sixth of the season against Baylor.
• Though senior Morgan Westbrook leads UTA with nine RBI in conference action alone, fellow senior Zaia Castruita has been incredibly clutch against WAC opponents as she leads with a .464 batting average and a .643 slugging percentage.
• The Mavericks' pitching staff has reached quite the milestones this season; Adams eclipsed the second perfect game in program lore - first to ever do it in a full seven-inning contest - and eighth no-hitter in UTA's 1-0 victory over Incarnate Word (Mar. 3), Jade Moreno recorded her first career no-hitter in the Mavs' 8-0 victory over Grambling State (Mar. 1) and seventh in UTA Softball history, Abi Gutierrez tossed her way in UTA Softball's history books as she reached a new single-game high of 13 strike outs, leading the Mavs to a 4-1 extra-inning victory against SFA (Apr. 10).
• As a whole, UTA sits on an ERA of 4.66 with Adams in the top spot with a 2.89 ERA – the lone Mav to hold a sub-three ERA. The junior leads the rotation with 84.2 innings in the circle, six complete games and a .260 opponent batting average.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | ABILENE CHRISTIAN WILDCATS (15-24, 7-10)

•  The Wildcats are coming off their first and only conference series win of the season which came over the weekend over Stephen F. Austin (Apr. 12-13) to improve to a 7-10 conference record.
• This weekend's matchup will mark the 14th time both programs will face one another as the Mavericks lead the overall series record, 7-6.
• In conference, ACU ranks in the top 5 in batting average (.289), slugging percentage (.460), on-base percentage (.363), runs scored (190), doubles (73), home runs (28) and hit-by-pitch (34).
• Sophomore Kaydee Bennett leads with a .424 batting average – 3rd in the WAC – with 50 hits, 15 walks, 80 total bases and a .678 slugging percentage. Across all 39 games, Bennett has collected 17 multi-hit games.
• Junior outfielder Olivia Marble has the second-greatest number of stolen bases (16) in all the conference as she holds a .398 batting average. Prior to the game against SFA on Apr. 12, Marble rode an impressive 19-game hitting streak.
• First baseman Sammie Shelander leads the Wildcats with 26 RBI, including four home runs and 12 doubles. In WAC action alone, the sophomore paces ACU's lineup with 18 RBI, 24 hits and a .444 batting average.
• The Wildcats' six-player pitching staff is led by freshman right-handed pitcher Ella Beeman, While Beeman leads with a 4.39 ERA, fellow pitcher Lina Russo leads the pitching rotation with over 87 innings of work, 58 strike outs and six complete games.

ON DECK
The Mavericks will take a break from midweek action and resume with an away series at Utah Tech beginning with a doubleheader on Friday, Apr. 26 at 3 p.m. CST.
   
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