After dropping its first series of the season, A&M baseball needed a win to end its first losing skid of the year and did just that in a 4-2 win over UT-Arlington on Tuesday afternoon.
The Aggie bats started hot early with two home runs in the first two innings, and with that lead in place A&M never looked back. The win keeps A&M unbeaten in mid-week games and move to 24-0 against non-conference opponents this season.
“We started out like gangbusters,” said A&M head coach Rob Childress. “We had a great approach and were able to build a lead early and held on. But we set up some innings, and just were not able to knock them down with the guys we want in those spots. I’ll take setting those up every time, I think I would be concerned if we weren’t setting those innings up. Definitely had some opportunities in the middle innings to put the game away, but we were able to play with some pressure late and I was proud of the way we finished.”
A&M (36-5, 12-5 SEC) broke the scoring seal in its first at-bat of the game. Blake Allemand hit a leadoff home run to give A&M the early 1-0 lead. In the second, Hunter Melton hit another leadoff home run, his fourth of the year, to give the Aggies a 2-0 advantage. RBIs from Mitchell Nau and Nick Banks in the third inning helped A&M to a 4-0 lead after 
arguably the highlight defensive play of the season for A&M at third base. With A&M in a jam and the bases loaded, UTA hit a line drive right at Nottebrok and he made a diving grab. While on the ground, he tagged third base for the double play to end the Maverick attack.
The Mavericks (17-22) shaved two runs off the Aggie lead to make it a 4-2 game, but A&M and its pitching staff ended the UTA threats. On the day, UTA hit 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Starter Turner Larkins saw his day end after three innings of solid work, and behind him a combination of Blake Kopetsky, Corbin Martin, Kyle Simonds and Mark Ecker kept the Mavericks mostly in check. Ecker earned his eighth save of the year in the win.
“I was just ready to get back on the field, and ready to get that sour taste out of our mouths,” Ecker said. “It was kind of rough on Sunday for everyone. We were just ready to get back out here.”
The Aggies have won the last 12 meetings against the Mavericks. The game concludes a nine-game home stand for A&M, a stretch in which it went 7-2. The Aggies now travel for the biggest SEC series of the season this weekend, as they will take on No. 1 LSU in Baton Rouge. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday.