SAN ANTONIO — UTSA jumped out to an early lead only to see UT Arlington rally in the final two innings for a 4-1 victory on Friday night at Roadrunner Field.
Megan Low went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Roadrunners (25-23, 8-11 WAC), while Jolene Graham gave the Birds their lone run with a solo home run in the fourth.
Meanwhile, Rebecca Stokes helped key a three-run seventh for the Mavericks (23-25, 7-12) with a double that plated a pair of runs. The inning was aided by two UTSA errors and it backed up a strong start from Teri Lyles, who earned her 20th victory in the circle after allowing one run on five hits with six strikeouts.
UTSA starter Haylee Staton retired the first six batters that she faced before Lyles singled to open the third, but it was the visitors’ only hit until there were two outs in the sixth.
Graham put the Roadrunners on top in the fourth with a one-out solo homer that just stayed fair down the left-field line. The Sutter, Calif., native took the 1-0 pitch over the fence for her second round-tripper of the spring.
However, UT Arlington tied the score with two outs in the sixth.
Kallan Thompson kept the inning alive with a single to left and she came around to score on Nina Villanueva’s double to right center. The Mavericks looked to take the lead one batter later when Meagan Michele singled to left, but Siera Sproul fired a strike to Low, who tagged out Villanueva to preserve the tie.
The Birds had a chance to grab the lead again when they loaded the bases on a walk, single and hit batter with two outs, but Lyles ended the inning with a pop up.
An inning later, UT Arlington capitalized on two errors for a 4-1 lead. All three runs scored before UTSA recorded an out.
Lyles gave up a two-out triple to Darian Blake in the bottom half of the panel, but the Roadrunners were unable to cut into the deficit and they left their seventh runner on base.
Staton (13-9) gave up four runs (two earned) on six hits, walks two and struck out three.
UTSA will look to bounce back on Saturday and secure a bid into next week’s Western Athletic Conference Tournament in a 3 p.m. doubleheader.