Box Score

ARLINGTON, Texas – Despite outhitting UT Arlington, 12-10, and putting up six runs in the seventh inning, Texas State succumbed to UTA, 11-7, Thursday night to drop to 28-24 on the season and 16-12 in Sun Belt Conference play. With the win, the Mavericks take hold of third place in the SBC, pushing the Bobcats down to fourth.
 
Texas State did some good things in spite of the loss. Colby Targun knocked a two-run homer in the seventh to swing momentum the Bobcats' way and jumpstart the six-run inning. Garrett Mattlage was an impressive 2-for-3 with two walks, knocking an RBI and scoring once. Ben McElroy and Austin O'Neal joined Mattlage to make it three Bobcats with two hits on the night.
 
Another Bobcat who finished the night with a hit was Matt Sanchez. He knocked his first hit since March 8, a double, to start the Bobcats right in the ninth. He eventually scored Texas State's only run of the final inning on a Granger Studdard sacrifice fly. On the mound, Jeremy Hallonquist made his first appearance of the season and promptly retired three consecutive batters for the Bobcat defense's first 1-2-3 inning in the sixth since the second.
 
Austen Williams kept UTA quiet with seven consecutive outs through 2.1 innings. In the third, the Mavericks knocked two hits, but Williams and the Bobcat defense kept them scoreless. The Mavs struck in the fourth inning though.
 
Ryan Bottger knocked a leadoff single and Matt Shortall followed with a shot to deep right centerfield to put runners at second and third with no outs. John Michael Twichell grounded out next, but Bottger scored for the 1-0 UTA lead. After that, catcher Greg McCall knocked his ninth home run of the season to score two more runs and give UT Arlington a 3-0 lead after four.
 
Two singles and two walks helped give UT Arlington another run in the fifth inning. After a big bases loaded strikeout for Tyler Davenport to get to two outs, McCall knocked his second homer of the night, this one a grand slam, to put UTA up 8-0 after five innings.
 
The Bobcats came through with an offensive explosion in the top of the seventh. O'Neal hit a leadoff single and Tyler Pearson brought him home with a double down the left line for Texas State's first run of the game. Targun came up next, pinch hitting, and knocked a two-run homer to right field to make it 8-3.
 
Cody Perkins kept the Bobcat momentum rolling with a single to left field. Cody Lovejoy moved him to second base on a sacrifice bunt, and then Mattlage brought him in with a double to deep right centerfield. Next, Studdard, in an inning in which everything went Texas State's way, legged out an infield single to push Mattlage to third base.
 
McElroy followed with a base knock to shallow centerfield to score Mattlage, and Studdard hustled all the way to third base on the play. O'Neal kept going where he left off to start the inning: with a hit. He knocked one up the middle to score Studdard for the team's sixth run of the inning before UTA could register a third out. The Bobcats passed UT Arlington in hits in the inning and held an 11-8 advantage after the top of the seventh.
 
The Mavericks were able to answer Texas State's offensive awakening in the top of the seventh with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. They used three walks and two hits to push the UTA lead to 11-6 after seven innings.
 
Texas State would score one in the top of the ninth, but that would be all the Bobcats could muster going into the final inning down five.
 
The Bobcats and UT Arlington will meet at the same time, 6:30 p.m., Friday night for game two of the series. Taylor Black will man the mound for the Bobcats and Zach Thompson will be on the hill for the Mavericks.