May 18, 2005

ARLINGTON, Texas - The University of Texas at Arlington baseball team will be looking to keep a hold of second place in the Southland Conference standings as they head to regular-season champion Northwestern State in the final weekend of the regular season. The series will get underway on May 19 at 6:30 p.m. at Brown-Stroud Field in Natchitoches, La. The two teams will play the second game on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and close out the series with a 1 p.m. matinee on Saturday.

The Mavs (25-27, 14-10 SLC) are tied with Lamar and Texas State for second place in the conference. LU and TXST will play in a three-game series this weekend in Beaumont. Texas-San Antonio sitsone game back in fifth place. UTA owns the tiebreaker over LU and TXST, but UTSA holds the advantage over UTA.

UTA will send senior right-hander Jake Baxter to the mound in the opener. Baxter is 7-5 on the season with a 2.16 ERA. He has struck out 92 in 104 innings. He is seventh on the single-season record for innings pitched and tied for fourth in strikeouts. NSU will counter with RHP Daniel Lonsberry (6-4, 3.22 ERA).

The second game will feature two pitchers that have very similar numbers. UTA's right-hander Grant Varnell is 7-2 with a 3.38 ERA, while NSU's right-hander Dereck Cloeren is 7-2 with a 3.21 ERA. The finale will feature UTA freshman Dillon Gee (5-6, 5.50 ERA) against Demons righty Kyle Broughton (9-1, 4.90 ERA).

The Demons are a very active team on the bases as they are second in the conference with 80 stolen bases in 113 attempts. Marty Dewees is tied for the conference lead with 20 thefts. The running game will be put to the test this weekend as UTA catcher Brett Lewis has only allowed 20 stolen bases in 43 attempts. His numbers are even better in conference play as opponents are only 9-for-21 against Lewis.

The Mavs will head back to Natchitoches, La. for the 2005 Southland Conference Tournament on May 25-28. UTA's first round opponent and game time are yet to be determined.