· Box score
ARLINGTON – Texas-Arlington jumped on UTSA starter Bradley Chovanec for six runs in the first two innings and then rode the right arm of Dillon Gee for a 9-3 victory on Friday night at Clay Gould Ballpark.
The Mavericks ended their school-record 13-game losing streak with the six-run triumph and improved to 10-23 overall and 1-10 in Southland Conference play. The loss dropped the Roadrunners to 18-13 and 10-1 in league games, as their school-record start in SLC play came to an end. The 10-game streak is tied for the second-best start in league history.
Danny Slinkman’s two-run homer with one down in the first got the Mavericks on the board and UTA then added a four-spot one inning later on three hits and three walks to extend the advantage to 6-0.
That was all the offense Gee would need, as he baffled the Roadrunners in his seven innings of work. The 6-foot-1 right-hander fanned a season-high 10 to improve to 3-6 on the year. The first six outs he recorded were strikeouts and he punched out eight through three frames. Gee allowed just two runs on eight hits and walked three in the 130-pitch outing.
After the Mavericks extended their lead to 9-0 with a three-run fourth, UTSA broke the shutout up with a pair of runs in the fifth. The Roadrunners added their third run in the eighth but, by then, it was too late.
UTSA collected 11 hits on the night, its 11th game in a row in double figures, but stranded a season-high 14 base runners.
Sophomore James Keithley (1-for-5) and redshirt freshman Tim Palincsar (2-for-5) extended their career-high hitting streaks to 19 and 11 games, respectively, to highlight the offense, while senior Ryan Saltzgaber and juniors Zach Etheredge and Trent Lockwood added a pair of base hits apiece.
Chovanec (2-3) lasted just 1.1 innings in his shortest start of the year. The junior right-hander gave up six runs on five hits and walked a season-high three. Senior Josh Blakley allowed three runs in his 4.2 innings of work and freshman Ryan Proudfoot struck out three in two scoreless frames.
The three-game set concludes at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Senior right-hander Blake Brannon (1-4, 9.20 ERA) will oppose UTA righty Andy Sauter (0-1, 11.65).
