ABILENE - A pair of two-out, run-scoring doubles off the bats of Travis Sibley and Christian Hollie in the second and fourth innings was all the UT Arlington pitching staff needed to defeat Abilene Christian on a cool Tuesday night at Crutcher Scott Field, 3-1.
The win evened the Mavs' season record at 6-6, while the Wildcats, who were three-hit tonight by four pitchers, fell to 1-10 on the spring.
ACU starter
Austin Lambright recorded two quick outs in the second before Brady Cox reached on an infield single to third base, in which
Brayden Gomez had trouble getting the ball out of his mitt. That minor miscue was followed by a walk and then Sibley ripped a double that tightroped the left-field line.
Lambright again was hurt by a two-out walk in the fourth as Hollie - who struck out against Lambright two times earlier - drilled a two-bagger into the right-center gap that made it a 3-0 game.
That's all the Mavs would score the rest of the night as the ACU bullpen of
Landon Holifield,
Ladgie Zotyka and
Nick Palacios combined to toss 4.0 scoreless innings with six strikeouts.
The Wildcats broke UTA's bid for a shutout in the sixth when catcher
Alex Copeland singled to right to score
Heath Beasley from second base. That run was charged to UTA starter Kyle Laberge, who went on to earn the victory behind seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work.
Laberge was followed to the mound by relievers Daniel James, Zach Hobbs and Colin Tornberg. James got the Mavericks out of the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh. Hobbs tossed a 1-2-3 eighth, and Tornberg earned his fourth save after getting two fly balls and a ground out with a runner at first base.
The Wildcats and Mavs conclude their two-game season series Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. in Arlington. The game will be broadcast in Abilene on 98.1 FM-The Ticket with
Grant Boone providing the play-by-play.
