June 1, 2012

NCAA WACO REGIONAL

Friday, June 1st
1 p.m. – Game 1 (Dallas Baptist 10, UT Arlington 0)
6 p.m. – Game 2 (Oral Roberts 4, Baylor 2)
Saturday, June 2nd
2 p.m. – Game 3 (UTA vs. Baylor)
7 p.m. – Game 4 (DBU vs. ORU)
Sunday, June 3rd
2 p.m. – Game 5 (Winner G3 vs. Loser G4)
7 p.m. – Game 6 (Winner G4 vs. Winner G5)
Monday, June 4th
6:30 p.m. – Game 7 (second game, if necessary)

Stats / Photo Gallery / Regional Central / Highlights / Notes / UTA Postgame

WACO, Texas – The Mavericks didn't get off to the start they wanted in the NCAA Waco Regional, falling 10-0 to Dallas Baptist on Friday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark.

No. 3 seed UT Arlington (36-24) will face No. 1 Baylor, which lost to No. 4 Oral Roberts, on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Southland Conference champion Mavericks are left without any margin for error in the double-elimination tournament if they hope to extend their season.

The Mavericks and Bears split two games during the regular season, each winning on their home field. UTA is the designated home team Saturday after winning a coin flip Friday night.

The loss to the No. 2 Patriots (40-17) is the third in three games this season. DBU, which swept two games from the Mavericks in early May, was dominant Friday.

Dallas Baptist scored first with three consecutive singles in the third after Mavericks starter Lance Day sent down the first six Patriot batters. UTA's ace nearly limited the damage to one run, but two two-out singles padded DBU's lead to 4-0.

Day (12-4) lasted four innings, giving up those four runs on six hits. DBU touched up UTA relievers Adam Westbrook and Chad Nack for three more runs, and added three more in the eighth against Chase Weaver.

Patriots starter Taylor Massey kept the UTA bats at bay with a strong complete game. The Mavericks managed just four hits off Massey, who added five strikeouts in improving to 9-4. Matt Shortall had three of UTA's hits.

The Mavericks are in the NCAA playoffs for the fifth time in school history and first since 2006. It's also the inaugural postseason trip for fifth-year UT Arlington coach Darin Thomas.

Dallas Baptist scored first with three consecutive singles in the third after Day sent down the first six Patriot batters. UTA's ace nearly limited the damage to one run, but two two-out singles padded DBU's lead to 4-0.

Postgame Quotes
UTA Head Coach Darin Thomas
Opening statement: "I'm going to give Dallas Baptist a lot of credit, in particular Taylor Massey. They picked the right guy to pitch. He pitched really well. He did as good a job against us as has been done in a long time. He forced some bad swings and we never really threatened. I give him a lot of credit and them a lot of credit. They really took it to us. I thought the key to the game was not only him, but they took the early lead and were able to loosen up."

Saturday's mind set: "We had a seven-game winning streak. We couldn't have played any better. We beat some good teams last weekend and we couldn't have played any worse today. We didn't swing the bat well, we didn't play very good defense and it looked like we played a little tight. We've played in this ballpark a million times, we've played DBU a million times, it's a different setting and I thought we played a little different than normal. I hope we can get that behind us. It just takes one win to get some momentum."

UTA Senior Pitcher Lance Day
Why was DBU so effective: "They just had that inning. They put the ball in play and it was in the gap. It was just one of those innings that they were throwing punches and you have to punch back. That 4-spot just took the life out of us. If we hold them to two, we still have a shot. It was just too much when they scored four."

Pitching staff's outlook Saturday: "Put this behind us behind us immediately. Don't worry about it and just keep pitching they way we pitched all season. Just keep making pitches. We know where to throw the ball in certain counts and if we do that tomorrow we'll take care of it fine and we'll play DBU on Sunday."