UT Arlington Tops Spartans, 3-1

Saturday, February 21

Arlington, Texas

4:00 PM

Michigan State University

2-3

UT Arlington

3-3

Michigan State

UT Arlington

Cam Vieaux struck out seven Maverick hitters.

2/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 21, 2015

Final Stats

ARLINGTON, Texas - Michigan State lost to UT Arlington, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at Clay Gould Ballpark. The Spartans were hampered by errors and runners left on base, and fall to 2-3 on the season. For the second game in a row, MSU was hindered by one bad inning in the field, as it gave up three runs in the third, all unearned. Left hander Cam Vieaux was the bright spot on the day for the Spartans, pitching six innings and striking out seven.

"Cam was very good today," said head coach Jake Boss. "He has swing and miss stuff. He struck out seven in six innings and had no earned runs. He gave us a chance. Alex (Troop) came in and did a good job in relief. The pitching has been outstanding. Offensively, we need to be better, and defensively we weren't very good either today."

The Mavericks did all of their damage in the third, capitalizing on two errors, allowing them to jump out to a 3-0 lead. With two outs and a runner on second, Vieaux produced a groundball to the infield that would've gotten the Spartans out of the inning, but a wild throw to first allowed a run to score, prolonging the Mavericks' at bat. UT Arlington went on to push across two more runs before Vieaux got a strikeout to end the frame.

After UTA took the lead, the Spartans answered back with a run of their own in the top half of the fourth. Mark Wesit doubled to lead off the inning and was eventually brought home on a sac fly by Ryan Krill for his fourth RBI of the season.

Trailing 3-1, the Spartans would create chances throughout the rest of the game, but couldn't get over the hump. MSU got its best contact of the day against UTA starter Bard Vassar in the sixth, but stranded three men on the bases and came away empty in the inning.

"We created opportunities, but that is half the battle," said Boss. "Somebody has got to make a play for us and get a hit and drive a run in. Somebody has got to figure out a way to get it done, and we don't have that right now. It is frustrating for everybody."

Michigan State stranded at least two runners in three of its final four chances, including loading the bases in both the sixth and ninth. In the game's final frame, a single, error, and walk brought up Cam Gibson with the bases full of Spartans with just one out. Maverick closer Colin Tornberg would escape the threat, getting Gibson to ground into a double play.

Vieaux would take the loss despite giving up zero earned runs, giving up five hits and walking one, while Vassar got the win for the Mavericks. Johnny Nate went 2-for-2 with a walk and Mark Weist added a pair of hits. Tomorrow's game vs. Southeastern Louisiana has been moved up one hour to 11 a.m. ET/ 10 a.m. CT due to the possibility of inclement weather.