ARLINGTON, TEXAS – Frany Cruz (Sr.-Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) had two more hits to continue his early season hitting tear but Iowa Wesleyan College was defeated 7-1 by the University of Texas-Arlington Thursday afternoon.
The Mavericks, members of the NCAA Division I Southland Conference, rapped out 14 hits against Tiger pitching to improve to 5-5 overall on the season. IWC was held to just seven hits and fell to 9-9 on the season.
Cruz had two of Wesleyan’s seven hits, including an RBI single in the eighth inning to score Edder Morales (Jr.-Barquisimeto, Venezuela). Cruz is now batting .452 with 28 hits in 62 at bats in the Tigers’ first 18 games. He also has seven doubles and 14 RBIs on the season and has hit safely in 12 straight games.
Hector Acevedo (Sr.-Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) started for the Tigers and pitched seven innings, allowing 13 hits and five earned runs while striking out three. After a 1-2-3 first inning, Acevedo ran into trouble in the second inning, allowing three hits and getting hurt by an error in the inning as the Mavericks took a 2-0 lead.
Texas-Arlington scored three more times in the fifth inning as Matt Otteman tripled to drive in two runs and Andrew Kainer followed with a single to make it 5-0. UTA added single runs in the sixth and seventh innings before IWC got its lone run in the eighth inning.
Cruz was the lone IWC hitter to have more than one hit. Diego Marquez (Jr.-Los Mochas Sinaloa, Mexico) added a double. Iowa Wesleyan was playing an NCAA Division I opponent for the first time since March 29, 2002, when the Tigers lost to Western Illinois University 3-2.
The Tigers have now lost three straight games to fall to 5-4 on their 10-day spring break trip. Wesleyan returns to the field again on Friday against Texas Wesleyan University for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. in Fort Worth, Texas.
For more information regarding the IWC baseball program or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Box score UTA 7 IWC 1
