PHOTO GALLERY

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - Georgia Southern Baseball got its best performance of the season from starting pitcher Evan Challenger, but it wasn't enough as the Eagles dropped the series opener to UT Arlington, 3-2. Challenger went the distance, striking out seven and holding the Mavericks to three runs, but the Georgia Southern offense tallied just five hits in the game. The Eagles and Mavs return to Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington, Texas on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. (CT) / 3 p.m. (ET).

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Rodney Hennon
"It was a well-played game. I thought (Kadon) Simmons pitched well for them and (Evan) Challenger did a great job for us. They didn't make any mistakes behind Simmons tonight. We had some opportunities, and unfortunately we didn't get it done. We've got to pick ourselves up and come back ready to compete tomorrow."

SCORING PLAYS
Bot 1st - GS 0 - UTA 1 - After a strikeout and an infield ground out in the first, UTA smashed its way to a 1-0 lead with a Quintin Rohrbaugh home run to left field.
Bot 5th - GS 0 - UTA 2 - A leadoff single came around to score in the fourth thanks to two sacrifice bunts. A sac fly plated the run from third to extend the lead to 2-0.
Bot 6th - GS 0 - UTA 3 - Three-straight singles in the sixth opened the door for UTA to push the lead to 3-0 as UTA's starting pitcher had held the Eagles to just one hit to that point.
Top 7th - GS 2 - UTA 3 - Jordan Wren opened the seventh with a leadoff single as the Eagles started to get to starting pitcher Kadon Simmons. A walk to Mason McWhorter and a sacrifice bunt by C.J. Brazil set the table for Cameron Hankins and Evan McDonald to knock in runs, cutting the lead to 3-2 entering the final innings.

GAME NOTES
- Evan Challenger matched his career long outing of 8.0 innings to pick up his first collegiate complete game. He tallied his first quality start of the season, scattering seven hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. He threw 106 pitches, but falls to 0-4 on the year.
- Jordan Wren went 2-for-4 to pace the Georgia Southern offense, while Steven Curry extended his hit streak to eight-straight games.
- Ryan Cleveland went 0-for-2 with a pair of walks to end his team-best hit streak at 14 games.
- After striking out 18 times in the midweek against The Citadel, Georgia Southern was retired just twice on strikes on Friday night, working five walks in the game.

NEXT UP
Georgia Southern and UT Arlington return for game two of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. (CT) / 3 p.m. (ET). Sunday's series finale has been pushed up to a 12:30 p.m. (CT) / 1:30 p.m. (ET) first pitch due to travel concerns.

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