| Sophomore Casey Selsor tossed the first complete game of his career on Friday night. |
SAN ANTONIO — Sophomore left-hander Casey Selsor tossed the first complete game of his career and he benefited from three home runs, as UTSA picked up an 8-2 victory against UT Arlington on Friday night at Roadrunner Field.
The Birds won their first Southland Conference game in four tries this season and improved to 9-7 overall.
Selsor (3-1), who retired nine of the final 11 hitters he faced, gave up two runs (one earned) on just six hits and a pair of walks, while striking out four in the 134-pitch outing (83 strikes). He was aided by home runs from sophomore Jason Mohn, freshman Ryan Dalton and senior Jeff Taliaferro.
"We played good in all three phases of the game tonight," Selsor said after the victory. "For the most part, everything was working for me. I struggled a little with my fastball in the middle innings, but after that, I really was able to get in a rhythm. It was huge to get our first conference win and now we have a chance to win a series tomorrow."
"Casey threw an outstanding game," head coach Sherman Corbett said. "He began to get really strong in the seventh inning. I asked him before the ninth how he felt and he told me he was ready to finish it up. Even though we committed three errors, we made some plays behind him when we need to. I also thought the hitters did a good job of working their at-bats against an extremely good pitcher."
After the Mavericks (7-11, 1-3 SLC) plated an unearned run in the third, UTSA responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the inning when senior Ryan Rummel delivered a bases-clearing double down the left-field line with one out.
It was a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the night.
Mohn's first homer of the year, a two-run shot to left center, pushed the lead to 5-1 two frames later.
UTA's preseason All-American Michael Choice launched his league-leading seventh bomb of the year to lead off the sixth to pull the Mavs within three, but the Birds added three more in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Rummel led off the panel with a single to right and Dalton launched a two-run shot to left three hitters later for his fourth long ball of the year. Taliaferro then followed with a homer to the same part of the field, which was his third of the spring.
Jason Mitchell (2-2) went the distance for UT Arlington, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits. He walked one and fanned five.
Mohn and Rummel both had a pair of hits for the Roadrunners, while Jordan Vaughn led the Mavericks with his 2-for-4 effort at the plate.
The three-game series continues at 2 p.m. on Saturday.