Below Expectations

I teased today's entry in the introduction of the last post of The Maverick Rambler. There, I gave the spring recap, primarily because the bulk of the UT Arlington Athletic programs are spring sports (eight compared to three fall and four winter), but also because it sets the stage for today's entry. 

When I interviewed Athletic Director Jon Fagg over the summer, he mentioned at the end of the interview that fundraising was at an all-time high but due to a decline in international students in the graduate program, overall revenue was actually down. I've thought about that line often the last few months. Watching the results come in hammered that point and overshadowed the optimism I felt in the offseason.

But on the other side of the equation, there were reasons to have a sunny disposition. UTA had only six conference members in most sports to compete against this year. I had high hopes going into this season. It had been a while since the foes were so diminished. The 1986/87 season was the last one where the conference make-up was that small. That year, the men's teams were independents due to the University dropping football. So 1985/86 is the last year where the entirety of the department faced six conference opponents. In that year, men's cross country, volleyball and softball won conference titles.

Not so much this year. The following is a recap of the regular season finishes for all the programs:

Spring Recap

I've mentioned here and there on the Maverick Rambler that certain sports don't get the same coverage that others do, particularly the individual sports. It's usually because either they are result driven sports like cross country and the best I could usually offer is the result (no better than UTAMavs.com) or it's not a sport I have a decent knowledge base in to comment on the team, such as tennis or golf. I understand the basics, but offering anything else would expose that knowledge deficiency. 

So today, I'm going to kind of rapid fire a little about the results with a smidge of commentary about the spring sports. It's at least enough to give them a spotlight, while also setting up the next entry later this month or early June. I'll go in chronological order.

The Last WAC Tournament

As soon as the first game of the previous series for the UT Arlington baseball team was in the books, I immediately thought of my last post. I was talking about how well their chances were to go as high as fourth or even third in the upcoming Western Athletic Conference tournament. 

Their chances were high because they were facing a team who had not won a conference series entering the sixth and final one of the season. The Utah Valley Wolverines had been swept three times. UTA's pitching was clearly superior while the offenses were a bit more even with a slight nod to UVU. Pitching usually wins out in these scenarios.

But the one part of the post stood out Thursday and especially after Friday's loss, giving Utah Valley the series win, their first of the year.

In more good news, UTA faces one remaining team in the WAC race, the last place team. Utah Valley, at 2-13 has been swept three times in five WAC series' and has not won a single series to this point. Now the cycnist in me will say this will be the time because their opponent is the Mavs. We Mav fans have seen heartbreak way too often to ever be comfortable. 

The rest of the WAC outcomes didn't favor UTA and as a result, the Mavericks fell to sixth in the standings. Utah Tech swept Abilene Christian, vaulting the Trailblazers to third. That put ACU in a tie for fifth with UTA, but the Wildcats won the series against the Mavs, giving ACU the higher seed. Sacramento State won their series against the regular-season champions in Tarleton State, giving them the fourth seed.

Crunch Time

The 2026 sprint of a baseball season, at least on the conference level, is entering it's last weekend and the UT Arlington squad is in a good position. Not great mind you, and certainly not at historic levels we've seen over this decades, but given the recent history after COVID cancelled the 2020 season, the prospects look promising.

Much of the last post about baseball still ring true: the pitching is above average, the offense is struggling, there have been close wins and large losses. But I'll cut to the chase. At 7-8 in the Western Athletic Conference, UTA has clinched a spot in the WAC tournament, the field is set, the seeding is not and the Mavericks sit in a tie for fifth with Utah Tech, but are a game out of third as Abilene Christian and Sacramento State are tied at 8-7.

The good news, UTA just won their series against the Trailblazers 2-1 and have not been swept by any team in the conference. Bad news, the 9-8, 10-inning loss to Abilene Christian on April 25th cost them that series while a 2-1 loss on day one of the previous series against the Hornets cost UTA that WAC three-game set. To really hammer that point, after winning the opening series against the WAC leaders in Tarleton State, who have clinched a tie for the regular season trophy with three games remaining, UTA dropped a 6-4 decision to second place California Baptist that lost them that series. A slightly more potent offense and UTA has an outside shot at a regular season title at this point in the season. 

Softball's Changeover

The regular season has concluded for the UT Arlington softball team and for the first time in six years, UTA will have a winning record. At 24-21, regardless of the results in the upcoming Western Athletic Conference tournament, the Mavericks are guaranteed to have more wins than losses. A late 3-8 stretch last year put the UTA one game below .500.

This year came on the strength of a 12-6 conference mark. With a .667 winning percentage, that is the best conference mark since the COVID year's 2-1 mark. The last in a full season was a 20-10 mark in 2011 during the Southland Conference era. In the Sun Belt, there weren't many winning conference seasons, but 2019's 17-10 mark was the high-water mark. It's the first winning WAC season in five tries, including the lone year in 2013.

The results came on the backs of a relentless offense. UTA hit 59 home runs this year, a program best. In the WAC, second-place Tarleton State hit 42 for comparison. What's impressive, is UTA's 45 games played is last in the WAC. The range is a high of 55 by TSU and California Baptist (the top two teams in the WAC standings) to a low of 47 by sixth-place Southern Utah. Keep that in mind for the following stats.

In addition to being first in home runs, UTA sits second in runs with 304, second in RBI with 268, second in slugging percentage at .519, third in hit by pitches at 35 and third in on base percentage at .390. Had they played the same number of games as TSU and CBU, many of those stat categories see UTA at the top. Also note, these numbers were gathered with one game left for every other team in the conference and are subject to change.

With such a dominant performance, of course there will be some players atop the conference.

What about Softball?

Yesterday, I mentioned the UT Arlington baseball team opened conference play this weekend. The softballers, whose season starts a week earlier, are in the middle of Western Athletic Conference play. The season has been interesting, but not the rollercoaster ride of their male diamond counterparts.

At 15-17 on the year, the team has done well in some games, then dropped the ball, intended figuratively, in other games. But, the important record, 4-2 in WAC play is good.

At 192 in RPI, UTA is fifth out of the seven team conference race. UTA beat Abilene Christian at their place 2-1 to start conference play, winning the first two before dropping the rubber match. That formula was repeated in Arlington against Tarleton State. ACU is well below UTA in the RPI rankings currently at 235, compared to UTA’s 192. The Texans, however, are 154. That is a good series win.

Like in years past, this team has strengths and weaknesses. I don’t know what it is, but pitching has been problematic. California Baptist leads the conference with a 3.02 earned run average. Utah Valley is under five and in second place. Southern Utah and TSU are third and fourth with ERA’s in the five. UTA is fifth at 6.52. Utah Tech is a quarter of a run behind and poor ACU is last in the nine’s.

The Confusing Non-Conference

The UT Arlington baseball team begins Western Athletic Conference play this weekend and the results have been mixed to say the least. In fact, this may be the most opposite of seasons I have ever seen in my two and a half decades plus of following UTA Mavericks.

At 11-16, the record certainly reflects a year that has been less than stellar, but it's those weird dichotomies that make this one a headscratcher. To enter into the record: 12 times on the year, UTA has scored three runs or less. They are 1-11 in those games, understandably so. But in games where they scored just one more run, they are 2-2. UTA has scored double digit runs six times, all wins. Proving they can score. There are some weird inconsistencies, as caliber of opponent seems to matter little, as I'll get into shortly.

The pitching staff has allowed three runs or less six times. While not as numerous as the 12 times they scored three or less, that is still a wide difference in runs from offense to defense. Their record in that category is 5-1. When they've allowed exactly four runs, they are 0-2. They have given up double digit runs six times, a 1-5 record.

But the real odd one to me that I just can't explain is a head scratcher to everyone.