ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington opened conference play with a 3–1 loss to Tarleton State on Thursday night at Clay Gould Ballpark, as an early deficit and limited offensive production proved too much to overcome in the series opener.
Tarleton State struck first with a two-out RBI single in the third, then added a sacrifice fly in the fifth and another in the seventh to build a 3–0 lead. UT Arlington's lone run came in the bottom of the fifth when shortstop
Harold Laracuente launched a solo home run to deep right field, cutting the deficit to 2–1 at the time.
Laracuente's homer was one of the Mavericks' few big swings of the night, as UTA was held to just a handful of hits and saw several balls put in play find Tarleton State gloves.
Jackson Hill added a stolen base, and the Mavericks generated occasional traffic, but Tarleton's pitching staff worked around the damage to maintain the narrow margin.
Pitching Profile
- Starter Caylon Dygert turned in another competitive outing, working into the seventh inning and allowing two earned runs while keeping UTA within striking distance for most of the night. The right-hander scattered Tarleton's key hits around a pair of run-scoring sacrifice flies before turning the ball over to reliever Merek Sears, who came on in the seventh and recorded the final outs to keep the deficit at two.
On Deck
UT Arlington continues its WAC series against Tarleton State on Friday at 1 p.m. at Clay Gould Ballpark.
-#BuckEm-
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