THIRD-PLACE MAVERICKS TRAVEL TO FOURTH-PLACE LAMAR FOR SLC SERIES

UT Arlington and Lamar open weekend series on Friday with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch

Matt Otteman leads the team and is 2nd in the SLC with a .426 batting average.
 
Matt Otteman leads the team and is 2nd in the SLC with a .426 batting average.
  

May 7, 2009

Lamar Game Notes Get Acrobat Reader

ARLINGTON, Texas -
FIRST PITCH
UT Arlington finished its four-game homestand on Tuesday with an 8-5 victory over No. 17 Oklahoma. The Mavs went 4-0 on their homestand, which also includes an SLC series sweep over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Mavs are in third place in the SLC with a 17-10 conference mark, which places them one game ahead of fourth-place Lamar (16-11).

INSIDE THE SERIES
Lamar and UT Arlington have met 102 times with Lamar leading the all-time series 66-36. The Cardinals are 30-17 against the Mavs in Beaumont, and have won 10 of the last 12 overall. Lamar won two of three over UTA in Arlington last season and swept the Mavericks in their last meeting in Beaumont in 2007. UTA last won in Beaumont in 2005.

UT ARLINGTON MAVERICKS
Overall Record: 27-21
Conference Record: 17-10
Last 5/Last 10: 4-1/6-4
Streak: Won 4
Rankings: BA: NR/CB: NR/NCBWA: NR/ESPN: NR
Website: www.utamavs.com
Head Coach: Darin Thomas
Career Record: 53-52 (2 years)
Record at UTA: 53-52 (2 years)

LAMAR CARDINALS
Overall Record: 32-18
Conference Record: 16-11
Last 5/Last 10: 4-1/8-2
Streak: Won 1
Rankings: NCBWA: NR/ ESPN: NR/BA: NR/CB: NR
Website: www.LamarCardinals.com
Head Coach: Jim Gilligan
Career Record: 1,136-713 (33 years)
Record at LU: 1,126-703 (32 years)

First Pitch:
Friday: 6:30 p.m., Saturday: 2:00 p.m., Sunday: 1:00 p.m.
Series History: Lamar leads, 66-33
Last Meeting: LU defeated UTA, 9-5 (Arlington) 3/16/08

Stadium: Vincent-Beck Stadium (Capacity: 3,500)
Dimensions: 325 (LF), 380 (CF), 325 (RF)
Live Stats: (GameTracker): www.utamavs.com
Press Box : (409) 880-8327

PROBABLE STARTERS

FRIDAY, MAY 8
Pitcher W-L ERA K/BB
Ryan Robinson (LHP) 5-2 3.58 35/8
Eric Harrington (RHP) 7-0 1.70 55/20

SATURDAY, MAY 9
Pitcher W-L ERA K/BB
Nathan Long (RHP) 5-3 3.32 84/22
Matison Smith (RHP) 6-4 4.06 47/24

SUNDAY, MAY 10
Pitcher W-L ERA K/BB
Jason Mitchell (RHP) 4-5 4.88 38/21
Ricky Testa (RHP) 5-3 3.97 73/22

MAVS FACE TOUGH ROAD CHALLENGE AT LAMAR
- UT Arlington, who enters this weekend with a 17-10 Southland Conference record, is in sole possession of third place. The Mavericks will travel to play fourth-place Lamar in a pivitol SLC match up in Beaumont at Vincent-Beck Stadium on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Both teams have punched their ticket to the SLC Tournament, but the outcome of the series will help determine playoff placement as both teams continue to try and secure seeds in the top half of the league.

FEAST OR FAMINE ON THE ROAD FOR MAVERICKS
- UT Arlington is familiar with sweeps on the road during SLC competition this season. The Mavericks have swept a pair of league series and have also been on the wrong side of a sweep on two occasions. UTA started the SLC schedule with three losses at Sam Houston State (Mar. 6-8). The Mavericks bounced back sweeping Nicholls (Mar. 28-30) and Central Arkansas (Apr. 17-19) in consecutive road series. In their most recent road series, the Mavericks dropped three at Stephen F. Austin (Apr. 24-26) to give them a 6-6 SLC road record this season.

KAINER BREAKS ALL-TIME SLC HIT STREAK RECORD
- Andrew Kainer broke the Southland Conference hit streak record with his 35th consecutive game recording at hit on Tuesday, May 5, while hitting a line-drive single to left field in the first inning against No. 17 Oklahoma at Clay Gould Ballpark. Kainer had tied the all-time SLC mark of 34 games, set by Brett Lockwood of Nicholls in 1996. Kainer's streak began on March 7, during game two of the Mavericks' first conference series at Sam Houston State. During his streak he has batted .440 (62-for-141) with 17 doubles, three home runs, nine walks and 12 stolen bases. He has posted 20 multi-hit games during his 35-game streak, including six games with three or more hits. In addition, Kainer's streak has spanned 37 team games, due to Kainer not recording an official plate appearance during the Mavs' 10-inning, 6-5 win over Nicholls on March 29. Kainer left the game in the bottom of the first inning after diving for a ball in the right-center field gap and left the game due to an injury. Kainer then sat out the next game on the road at TCU (4/1).

DOWN THE ROAD FOR KAINER...
- The NCAA all-time hit streak was set by former Major League and Oklahoma State standout Robin Ventura, who set the record in 1987 with a 58-game hit streak.

KNOCKING OFF BIG 12 OPPONENTS IN ARLINGTON
- UT Arlington picked up its second win over a ranked Big 12 opponent this season at home with an 8-5 win over No. 17 Oklahoma on May 5. The Mavs topped then-No. 7 Baylor on April 14, also in Arlington. Dating back to last season, the Mavericks have won four of their last five at home against Big 12 teams.

FIRST TIME IN UTA BASEBALL HISTORY...
- The Mavericks made school history sweeping their fourth Southland Conference series with three wins over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Arlington (May 1-3). Several times during the 41 years of baseball at UTA a squad had swept three conference series, but never had a UTA baseball team swept four opponents during one season. In only nine weekend series, UTA has swept three-game series from Northwestern State, Nicholls, Central Arkansas and A&M-Corpus Christi.

MAVERICKS CLINCH SLC TOURNAMENT BID
- UT Arlington secured its second straight berth at the Southland Conference Tournament with a three-game sweep over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. UTA cruised past its SLC win total from 2008, as they notched win No. 17 on Sunday. Last season UTA was 16-14 in the SLC. The Mavericks also equaled their overall win total from last year as they improved to 26-21 overall. In 2008 the Mavs were 26-31 overall.

700 WINS IN ARLINGTON FOR THE MAVERICKS
- UT Arlington won its 700th all-time game at home on Saturday with a 10-4 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. UTA's sweep gives them a 701-394 all-time record while playing on its home field in Arlington.

HOME FIELD SUCCESS IS BACK AGAIN
- The Mavericks are 19-6 (.760) at Clay Gould Ballpark this season. It is the most wins for UTA at home since 2004 (21-11) and it marks the highest winning percentage for the Mavs at home since 2003 (.765).

Darin Thomas COLLECTS CAREER WIN NO. 50
- UT Arlington head coach Darin Thomas won his 50th career game with a 4-3 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday, May 1. Thomas is the third Maverick coach to record his 50th career victory during his second season as head coach. Below is a list of Thomas' milestone head coaching wins in two seasons.

No. 1 1-0, vs. UALR (Feb. 22, 2008)
No. 25 6-4, vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (May 16, 2008)
No. 50 4-3, vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (May 1, 2009)

The following is a list of UT Arlington head coaches and how long it took for them to reach win No. 50 and their overall record when reaching the milestone.

Head Coach Games Record at 50 wins
Jeff Curtis 94 50-44 (2nd season)
Clay Gould 94 50-44 (2nd season)
Fred Matthews 96 50-46 (3rd season)
Darin Thomas 102 50-52 (2nd season)
Butch McBroom 107 50-57 (3rd season)
* Tom Beasley (16-34 record in two season as head coach)

CHOICE INVITED TO USA BASEBALL TEAM TRIALS
- Center fielder Michael Choice has been invited to the 2009 USA Baseball National Team Trials in Cary, N.C., USA Baseball officials announced Tuesday, April 21. Choice will join an elite group of 36 of the top collegiate, non-draft eligible players in the country who will compete for a spot on the 22-man USA Baseball National Team roster that will be announced June 24. Choice made the list of the 17 initial invitees that will report to the National Training Complex for the trials that are scheduled for June 15-24.

KAINER BREAKS ALL-TIME HIT STREAK RECORD
- Andrew Kainer became the first UTA player ever to record a 27-game hit streak on Tuesday, April 21, as the senior went 2-for-5, including the record-breaking single to left field in the fourth inning to break the previous 26-game record set by current teammate Matt Otteman (2009) and the late Clay Gould (1993), who the Mavericks' home stadium is named after.

CHOICE BECOMES 6TH MAV TO HIT FOR CYCLE
- Michael Choice became the sixth UT Arlington player to hit for the cycle on Tuesday, April 21. Choice went 4-for-4 with three runs and five RBI against Northwood. He accomplished the rare feat by hitting a triple down the left-field line in the first, hitting a line-drive double in the left-center gap in the fifth, a single to left field in the sixth and completed the cycle with a line-drive home run to left field in the eighth.

UT ARLINGTON PLAYERS TO HIT FOR THE CYCLE
Name Opponent Date
Michael Choice vs. Northwood 4/21/2009
Kyle Thomason vs. Northwestern State 3/11/2006
Ian Gutierrez vs. TCU 4/7/1999
Rahn Smith vs. Texas Wesleyan 2/11/1998
Clay Gould vs. Oklahoma State 3/10/1993
Karl Heckendorn vs. Nicholls 3/7/1993

LONG SETS THE PACE FOR "K'S" IN THE SLC
- Nathan Long continues to lead the Southland Conference in strikeouts with 84 in 76.0 innings. Long's closest competitor for the SLC strikeout title is Ricky Testa of Lamar who has 73 strikeouts in 68.0 innings. In addition, Long leads the SLC in strikeouts during league play with 72 in 61.2 innings pitched.

THE HITS AND THE RUNS JUST KEPT ON COMIN'
- UT Arlington scored a season-high 23 runs - only the second time since 2002 scoring over 20 runs - with a season best 22 base hits in its victory over Northwood. The Mavericks also scored 13 runs in the eighth inning, which marks the most runs in a single inning for UTA this season.

RARE COMPANY
- Andrew Kainer and Matt Otteman are only the third set of teammates in the nation (NCAA D-I) this season that have recorded a 20-game hit streak. Cal Poly and UT Martin also have teammates who have recorded 20-game streaks this season.