ARLINGTON, Texas – Two runs scored in the ninth were the difference as No. 19 Texas State (27-9, 11-3 Sun Belt) won 5-3 Friday night over UT Arlington (11-24, 4-10 Sun Belt) at Clay Gould Ballpark to claim the series.
 
"That was a quality win. We scored early and then we scored late," said head coach Steven Trout. "It was a really good day offensively with 14 hits with all but two being singles. It's a tough place to hit home runs and doubles here."
 
The only extra base hits on the night were doubles by Ben McClain and Isaiah Ortega-Jones. Both Justin Thompson and McClain went 3-for-5 at the plate and scored a run while Dalton Shuffield and Ortega-Jones had two base knocks each. Driving in two runs was Daylan Pena.
 
Picking up the win was Tristan Stivors (5-1) as he threw two scoreless innings and struck out four. Taking the loss was David Moffat (0-5) after surrendering two runs in four frames.
 
Levi Wells went the first 5.2 innings and recorded a strikeout. Tony Robie pitched a scoreless frame and Matthew Nicholas retired the lone batter he faced.
 
Back-to-back singles by McClain and Shuffield put runners on the corners. Jose Gonzalez followed with a deep sacrifice fly to center to plate the first run of the game. A Thompson single again put runners on the corners with a second run in the opening frame scoring on an infield base knock off the bat of Pena.
 
The Mavericks got a run back in the second on an RBI single from Cade Sumbler to cut the lead to a run. They would tack on another run via a sacrifice fly to tie the game 2-2 after three complete.
 
Ortega-Jones sent the first pitch of the sixth to center for a double. Consecutive fly outs to the centerfielder allowed the Fort Worth, Texas native to score to put TXST back in the lead by a run.
 
UTA responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game again, this time at 3-3.
 
The ninth began with Gonzalez and Thompson both hitting singles and was followed by a deep flyout to center that put runners on the corners. Pena hit a chopper to third that saw the Maverick third baseman take his eye off the ball for a split second to decide to go home or first and ended up booting the ball to bring in the go-ahead run. After Cameron Gibbons beat out a grounder hit to third for an infield single, Ortega-Jones hit the ball back up the middle for an RBI single for the final run of the contest.
 
Next up is the series finale on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
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