May 17, 2012
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Preston Beck drilled his 10th home run and Lance Day notched his 10th win as UT Arlington locked up a Southland Conference Tournament berth with Thursday night's 8-2 victory at Clay Gould Ballpark.
The Mavericks (30-23) snapped a three-game league losing streak and improved to 17-14 in the SLC. The Islanders are 23-29 and 14-17.
The SLC Tournament is May 23-26 in San Marcos, Texas. The top eight teams in the league qualify. UTA entered Friday tied for fourth in the standings.
"Hopefully tonight gets us a little momentum," UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas said.
Day (10-3) snapped a personal two-game losing streak with his first win since April 27. The senior righty worked eight innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits.
"We didn't play very well in the first inning and could have given up more than one run," Thomas said. "I thought that was the key to the game."
Beck's power drought was a bit longer than Day's wait for double-digit victories. The junior right fielder hadn't homered since April 22 against Northwestern State before sending an offering by Islanders starter Daniel Minor over the wall and bushes down the right-field line.
Beck finished the game 3-4. He leads the conference with 10 homers and 53 RBI.
The Islanders took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first before UTA struck back with three runs in the second on five hits. Travis Sibley had the inning's key blow with a two-run single scoring Jordan Vaughn and Matt Shortall.
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Michael Guerra, Shortall and Vaughn also had two hits each for the Mavericks.
The series continues Friday with a 6:30 p.m. start and concludes Saturday at 2 p.m.
