Same Song, Different Verse Again

A promising start to the baseball season is quickly souring. Odd to think that as April is ending, the UT Arlington Mavericks have a better record against opponents from the Big 12 than the Sun Belt Conference, and it isn't even close.

In my previous post, I detailed how the Mavs had lost numerous games to either one bad inning on the mound or an offense that garnered hits but not runs. Yesterday's loss to Troy in the start of a three-game series followed the same pattern that I detailed. In fact they had both.

The Trojans scored three runs on a three-RBI, inside-the-park home run. The go-ahead RBI came on a two-out hit. Once again, one pitch is the difference here.

UTA actually outhit Troy 11-8, but lost 5-2. They left 11 men on base, of which five were in scoring position when the last out was recorded. Again, one hit can make the difference here.

I ended the last post with something that surely applies in this game too.

Same Song, Different Verse

I don't know how to start this post, (this sentence is the third one I've typed trying to open this post, so hopefully it will be the keeper) so I'll start with the facts of the 2016 UT Arlington baseball season.

I'll begin with the statistical rankings. UTA is currently second in the SBC in team batting average at .295. They have been number one a good portion of the year. There team ERA is sixth, exactly in the middle of the SBC at 4.05. In theory a good offense and decent pitching should have a better showing in the standings, but UTA is in a tie for seventh, with the team they are tied with having the tiebreaker.

The offense is in the top half of every statistical category except home runs (dead last), walks, hit by pitch and sac bunts. They are at least fifth or better in the other 17 categories the Sun Belt Conference keeps. The pitching is not as good in terms of depth, as Joel Kuhnel, Kadon Simmons and Jacob Moreland have really brought the ERA down. They are literally middle of the pack in everything with the biggest outlier being they don't get many strikeouts, nor walk many batters.

UTA is 20-17 overall and 6-9 in the Sun Belt Conference. In something of a repeating pattern of the past few years, UTA is beating the top teams with wins over TCU (RPI #28), Oklahoma State (RPI #41), Baylor (RPI #79) and Louisiana Tech (RPI #90). They are also having some real head-scratchers.  UTA has won only two SBC series at this point and lost three, with one being a sweep. Two of those losses are to teams UTA should have beat at home, ULM and Georgia Southern.

End of the Road

What a season it was. I know it has been a while since the mens basketball season ended on March 24th to now. Apologies for that as I felt a bit withdrawn after the NJIT loss, a school that I believe UT Arlington would beat five more times if they played five games. More than anything, it was the big lead that turned into a loss that had me in retreat.

But make no mistake, the season was a resounding success. For the first time I can remember, UTA had a great season, but it is a foundational one as well, giving optimism to next season. The future is brighter than ever.

The Mavs tied a program high for wins in a year with 24. The last time that was accomplished was in 2011/12 when the Mavericks claimed their first outright Southland Conference championship in their last year in the conference they founded almost 50 years earlier. Their 13 wins in conference play was the most since that 11/12 season too.

CIT Quarterfinals

Last post, I previewed UTA's first round opponent in the CollegeInsiders.com tournament and ended the post with:

I see two possible outcomes, either a big UTA win or a close UTA loss. Either way, it is fun to talk Maverick basketball after the conference tournament.

It did end up as a big win, with the Mavericks defeating Savannah State 75-59. The team played very well in all facets of the game, as well as for most of the game. There was a stretch in the first half where SSU almost tied the game, and at the end, once the contest was well decided, but UTA did very, very well otherwise in earning the program's first postseason victory.

As a team with an RPI in the top three of the remaining teams in the tournament, UTA was given a second round bye into the quarterfinals. Their opponent was announced Monday. The New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders.

CIT Bound

With the regular season over, the UT-Arlington men's basketball program had high hopes entering the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. After a rough stretch of four SBC loses in a row, already slim at-large chances to the NCAA tournament disappeared. There was a chance that their entire post-season possibilities could go up in flames if they didn't right the ship.

But right the ship they did, as they won eight of the next ten. Including in that streak was a win over Louisiana-Lafayette, which allowed them to jump a spot in the SBC standings. I think that would be one of the better wins of the year. It all but guaranteed a first round bye in the conference tournament as well. As it would turn out, UTA would clinch the third seed. The two losses in that streak were to the top two teams in the conference, Little Rock and Louisiana-Monroe though the last one was a tight affair.

That set the stage for the conference tournament. After getting eliminated last year by the Texas State Bobcats, UTA's in-state rival won their first round match-up, which would set up a rematch. After trailing at halftime, the Mavericks stormed back to take a 72-63 win, setting the stage for another shot at the Warhawks from Monroe. Things looked good early, as the Mavs would stake a 14-3 lead to open the affair, but that would really end the highlights, as the Mavs would end up on the short end of an 82-71 score that really wasn't that close.

For many Mav faithful, the season was over, but I knew it would go on. I didn't think an NIT invite was likely, and I certainly knew there was not going to be an NCAA invite. But I had a feeling the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, or CIT, was in the Mavs future, and that another game at College Park Center was on the horizon.

Mavericks to Play in CPC's Biggest Week

Happy post #100!

With that out of the way, I'll dive into a topic that I rarely venture into for the 100th. Regular readers know I tread carefully into ranking subjective material. For example, rather than say the 1981 UT Arlington Men's Basketball team was the most talented ever, which is my opinion, I'd say they were one of the greatest, allowing others to their opinion of which is the greatest. I know people like lists, especially top ten, but I leave that for others to decide, at least for now.

That said, there are the slam dunks, which only the fringe can deny, like for example to 1967 football team achieved the greatest success, but those are few and far between. I think today's topic qualifies.

In its brief history, CPC has seen some big games, but there has not been the back-to-back games that have the meaning of this week. UTA sits in fourth in the Sun Belt Conference standings at 8-5. Louisiana-Monroe is a half game ahead at 9-5 and Louisiana-Lafayette is a game ahead of them at 10-4. Both teams beat UTA on their home court. The Mavericks were in the middle of a four-game losing streak and five losses in six games, most of that triggered by the loss of Kevin Hervey.

The Inexplicable Fall

A lot has changed since this post, where I explained that UT Arlington may never had had this level of success. The men are on a three-game slide, and have lost four outof five. The women are struggling unexpectedly as well, losing five out of six, with a four-game skid in the mix.

I'll start with the men, where there's an obvious reason, but I think the slide is beyond that.

A deep pit in my stomach occurred when I found out sophomore Kevin Hervey had "tweaked" his knee in warm-ups prior to the Arkansas State game. As a guy who has torn an ACL before, I knew exactly what tweaked can lead to. Sure enough, the forefront of the Mavericks rise was out for the season.