MESA, Arizona - Tarleton State Baseball (24-32) fell to the UT Arlington Mavericks (20-31) during the opening round of the 2025 WAC Tournament on Tuesday afternoon at Hohokam Stadium.

This was the first playoff game between these two squads and marked their fourth meeting of the season. The Mavericks posted 17 hits while the Texans had four. Tarleton State's bullpen notched five strikeouts opposed to UTA's nine.

UT Arlington hit the ground running with a four-spot in the first inning. Xavier Melendez drove in the first run via an RBI single, followed by a two-RBI double from Tate Bethel. The Mavericks' scoring spurt was capped off by a single from Jake Martinez that brought in Bethel, making it a four-run lead.

The Texans chopped away at the early deficit in the bottom of the first, putting up a run of their own. Tyson Drake began the inning with a lead-off single, followed by a walk from Trace Morrison and a flyout from Carson Lorch which put Drake on third base. With two outs on the board, Slade McCloud knocked in an RBI single to score Drake for Tarleton State's first run of the contest.

Jake Burcham got back on track by pitching two scoreless frames in the second and third. Despite a lead-off single from Jaime Perez in the bottom of the second, Tarleton State couldn't put up any runs and left the ballgame at 4-1 in favor of the Mavericks.

UT Arlington put the lead back to four thanks to another RBI single from Melendez, then Tyce Armstrong drew a walk to load the bases shortly after. With Aden Lucas now on the mound, the Texans stayed strong and got out of the bases-loaded jam to prevent any further runs.

After going scorless in the bottom of the fourth stanza, the Purple and White turned to Brian Panneton for pitching relief in the top of the fifth. Panneton capped off the inning with a looking strikeout on a full count, keeping the game at 5-1. In the sixth inning, Panneton produced a 4-6-3 double play ball to keep the Texans within four.

Tuesday's contest remained at a stalemate until the seventh inning when Larry Haskins blasted a two-run home run that scored himself and Xander McAfee. Sergio Guerra, Ike Shirey and Perez drew three walks in the bottom of the seventh to load the bases with one out on the board. After a pitching substitution from UTA, the Texans went down on a swinging strikeout and a lineout to center field.

The Mavericks put up three more runs to make it 10-1 with nine outs left in the opening round. Tarleton State couldn't catch a break, going scoreless in both frames despite a lead-off single from Guerra in the ninth.

The Purple and White ultimately fell 10-1 to end their season in Mesa, Arizona.