UTA baseball scores in eighth, wins series at Troy

Matt Shortall’s run-scoring single in the top of the eighth inning lifted UT Arlington to a 6-5 victory over Troy on Sunday and a 2-1 Sun Belt Conference series win.

The Mavericks (20-24, 11-10 SBC) have won their last three Sun Belt road series.

“I’m real proud of our guys,” UTA coach Darin Thomas said. “Hard-fought win today. ... We found a way to outscore them, and it wasn’t easy.”

UTA scored four runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-2 lead on Levi Scott’s two-run triple and John Michael Twichell’s two-run home run.

Troy (21-24, 8-12) scored three runs on four singles and an error in the bottom of the fifth to tie the score 5-5.

UTA’s Eric Tate opened the eighth by drawing a walk and taking second on a botched pickoff attempt. Shortall’s single up the middle scored Tate for the 6-5 lead.

The Mavericks’ 17 hits tied their second-highest total of the season, but they left 13 runners on base. Every starter had a hit. Darien McLemore had three, and Shortall, Tate, Ryan Bottger, Greg McCall and Scott each had two.

Jacob Moreland (1-2) earned the victory in relief, and the Trojans didn’t score in the final four innings. Chad Nack got the final five outs for his second save.

The Mavericks host Texas Wesleyan at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Arlington Baptist at 2 p.m. Wednesday in nonconference games.

This story was originally published April 27, 2014 at 11:42 PM with the headline "UTA baseball scores in eighth, wins series at Troy."