MOBILE, ALa. - No. 2 UT Arlington defeated No. 7 South Alabama 8-4 in the final game of the opening round of the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Stanky Field in Mobile, Ala.
UTA right-hander Daniel Milliman (6-0) allowed three unearned runs on five hits with three strikeouts and five walks to earn the win. Jaguar right-hander Ben Taylor (3-5) took the loss in 3 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits with four strikeouts and four walks. USA right-hander Matt Bell tossed 3 2/3 scoreless relief innings, and allowed just one hit while striking out three and issuing a pair of walks.
Timely hitting and clutch pitching lifted the Mavericks past the Jaguars who scored in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings to stake Daniel Milliman to an 8-0 lead. Travis Sibley drove in four runs, and John Michael Twichell and Matt Shortall backed Milliman with run-scoring doubles. UTA is riding a season-high eight-game winning streak, the program's longest since a 14-game unbeaten run in 1992.
UTA (31-25) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Greg McCall reached on a leadoff walk and scored later in the inning on a one-out double to right-center field by John Michael Twichell. Sibley reached on a hit by pitch from Taylor to load the bases with two outs, but the right-hander escaped the jam with an inning-ending flyout to right field off the bat of Derek Miller.
The Mavericks doubled their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the third when Ryan Bottger reached on a one-out walk, and scored one batter later on a double to right-center field by Matt Shortall.
The Mavericks scored twice in the fourth for a 4-0 lead. Darien McLemore came home Sibley's short pop to right that fell just out of reach of second baseman Davis Knapp. Sibley scampered to the plate on a wild pitch with the bases loaded.
Sibley cleared the bases in fifth with a three-run double down the left-field line, breaking the game open. Derek Miller followed with a double to right that scored Sibley for an 8-0 advantage.
USA (22-32) loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the sixth after Connor Hawthorne reached on a leadoff walk, Cameron Cummings reached on a fielding error by Sibley and Davis Knapp drew a walk. Drew LaBounty followed with a two-out, two-run single down the right field line to score Hawthorne and Cummings and cut the UTA lead to 8-2. DeGallier then doubled down the left field line to plate Knapp and cut the USA deficit to 8-3.
The Jags pushed the game's final run across in the top of the ninth on a two-out RBI single by Hayden Jones.
The Mavericks will face sixth-seeded Troy in Thursday's finale at 7:30 p.m. CT while the Jags will take on No. 3 Arkansas State at 12:30 p.m. CT in an elimination game.