Big home run helps UT Arlington redeem itself against TCU

TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle has been saying it, and he said it again Wednesday night — UT Arlington can hit.

“I’ve been saying all year this is the best offensive UTA team I’ve seen,” he said. “That’s a Big 12 offensive club.”

It sure looked like it on one swing — Brady Cox’s blast to left center for a three-run home run in the third inning that sent the Mavericks on the way to a 4-3 victory against the ninth-ranked Horned Frogs at TCU’s Lupton Stadium.

It was one of 13 hits by UT Arlington, which lost 17-4 last week on its home field to TCU.

“They can really hit,” Schlossnagle said. “There’s a reason they’re top 10 in the country in base hits. They can really hit. We’re fortunate to win two out of three against them this year.”

TCU’s Cam Warner hit his own three-run home run in the eighth, cutting the lead to 4-3. Josh Watson hit into a double play to end the game, bouncing hard to second after Elliott Barzilli’s one-out hit.

“We have nothing but respect for TCU, but we talked about it at practice yesterday how embarrassed we were after last Tuesday,” Mavericks coach Darin Thomas said. “I mean, they just laid it on us. We added to it by not playing very well. We just challenged them a little bit: ‘You better show up and play or you’ll get embarrassed again.’ ”

Cox, a junior catcher from Fort Worth Arlington Heights, has driven in 12 runs in the past five games. The home run was his first of the season and second of his career.

“We came out with a little chip on our shoulder, knowing we’re better than that,” he said. “Win or lose, we can at least compete better than that. Sure enough, we executed a bunch of plays.”

Cox’s home run came off Rex Hill (2-2), who pitched the third inning in relief of freshman starter Sean Wymer, who struck out five in two innings. Wymer, a reliever, threw 32 pitches in a spot start.

TCU (22-6), headed to a three-game Big 12 series at Kansas on Friday, committed two errors and was outhit 13-6. The Frogs had only two hits until the eighth inning.

UTA’s fourth run scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning by reliever Preston Guillory with the bases loaded and two out.

“They outplayed us in every phase of the game,” Schlossnagle said. “We got back into it on one swing of the bat. Too little, too late.”

UTA (17-13) starts a three-game home Sun Belt series against Louisiana-Monroe on Friday.

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 10:16 PM with the headline "Big home run helps UT Arlington redeem itself against TCU."