SAN ANTONIO — UT Arlington took advantage of a pair of UTSA miscues in the eighth inning to score three runs and the Mavericks held off the Roadrunners' rally for a 7-6 victory on Saturday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
UTSA (14-9, 1-1 WAC), which stranded 10 runners on base, entered the final frame down by three runs. Mike Warren drew a one-out walk and, two batters later, John Bormann hit a two-run homer to left-center which pulled the Roadrunners within a tally. However, UT Arlington (11-11, 1-1 WAC) reliever John Beck struck out Rodney Garza on a 1-2 slider to end the rally and even the series.
Daniel Milliman (1-1) picked up the win after allowing a run on two hits in 2.1 panels of relief. The right-hander also struck out a game-high three batters.
Beck logged his second save of the campaign after two innings of work in which he allowed a pair of hits and the two-run homer by Bormann.
The Mavericks racked up 15 hits against five UTSA pitchers. All nine starters for UT Arlington registered at least one hit, including Ryan Walker who was 3-for-5 and scored twice.
Meanwhile, the Birds collected a dozen hits and were led by Riley Good's 3-for-4 performance which included a double. Bormann was 2-for-5 with his first career homer and two RBIs and Jesse Baker posted a pair of hits, including a solo round-tripper in the second.
UTSA opened the scoring with Warren's RBI single in the first inning.
After the Mavericks pulled even in the second, Baker put the Birds back out in front with a solo home run to left field.
A frame later, UTA took the lead for good with three runs, including two on Matt Shortall's single through the middle.
UTSA scored once in the fourth on Perucki's run-scoring hit to pull within one.
However, the Mavericks crossed home plate three times in the eighth.
Walker led off the stanza by reaching on a fielding error. He scored three batters later on Darien McLemore's single through the right side. Lawrence then followed with a run-scoring single of his own and McLemore scored on Jake Pinchback's single to right after Baker mishandled the ball.
The Roadrunners picked up their fourth tally in the bottom of the frame after John Welborn's sacrifice fly drove in Bormann, who led off with a base hit.
The rubber game of the set is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday. UTSA will send right-hander Justin Anderson (0-0, 3.60 ERA) to the mound, while UT Arlington will counter with righty Zach Thompson (1-2, 6.75 ERA).