ARLINGTON, Texas – UALR baseball (14-28, 10-13) ended its three-game tilt with UT Arlington (20-26, 10-14) by taking a 7-2 loss in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
UT Arlington struck first with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Levi Scott walked and advanced to third on a single to right by Darien McLemore. Eric Tate doubled down the left field line and advanced to third on the throw home while Scott and McLemore scored. Jackson Morris singled to left field, giving UTA a 3-0 lead as Tate crossed the plate.
The Mavs continued the assault in the bottom of the third inning by taking a 5-0 lead. After two singles to begin the inning, Christian Hollie doubled to left center with two outs, allowing both runners to make their way around the diamond.
Sam Thoele came on in relief of starter Cameron Allen to begin the bottom of the fourth inning. Thoele allowed just one hit and fanned three in his first inning of work.
"We were up in the zone early on the mound," head coach Chris Curry said. "We went to Thoele, and I thought he threw the ball pretty well. He was outstanding the first inning out, but he lost command of his breaking ball in the second inning. They knew they were getting a fastball, and they hit it."
UTA added two more to their run total in the bottom of the sixth inning. R.J. Williams singled to begin the frame and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Matt McLean. Travis Sibley singled to right field as Williams scored from second to increase the Mavs' lead to 6-0. Scott hit an infield single to short as Sibley made his way to second. Sibley then advanced to third after a wild pitch by Thoele. McLemore hit an easy ground out down the first base line, but Sibley made his way home for the Mavericks' seventh run.
Dyllon Brownmiller came on in relief to begin the seventh inning and allowed just one hit in 0.2 innings of work. After a batter reached on an infield error, Tanner Rockwell moved from the designated hitter role to pitch. Rockwell got the first batter he faced to fly out to left field, ending the inning. Rockwell found similar luck in the bottom of the eighth inning with a strikeout and two ground outs.
"We're going to need Rockwell to do what he did today in these final seven games," Curry said.
The Trojans finally got on the board in the top of the ninth inning. Rockwell earned his second hit of the day with a double down the left field line. Kyle Kirk followed through with his second hit of the game, a double down the right field line that scored Rockwell. Justin Steelmon reached on a throwing error by the shortstop to put runners on the corners with no outs. The Trojans then hit into a double play, but Kirk made his way home to decrease the deficit to 7-2. This would be all UALR could muster as a fly ball to left field ended the game.
"This weekend, I saw a side of our team that I haven't seen which is both frustrating and scary," Curry said. "When things didn't go our way early, I thought for the first time that the entire team wasn't committed to battling back. That's something we're going to correct this week. No matter what the score is, that shouldn't dictate how we play the game. We had that understanding early on in the season, and you couldn't get enough runs to put us down."
In addition to Rockwell's and Kirk's two hits, Hayden Martin, James Gillean and Jason Prevatt each had a hit. Martin made a fantastic diving play at second to save a would-be line drive hit to center field in the bottom of the first inning.
"I love the way Hayden Martin is playing right now," Curry said. "He's showing me so much, and I have a lot of respect for him. He hit the ball hard a couple of times today."
The Trojans will return to Gary Hogan Field for a three-game series with ULM starting on Friday at 6 p.m., beginning its final home stand of the season. A lot will be riding on the series as the Trojans and Warhawks sit eighth and ninth in the Sun Belt standings, respectively.
