After an anemic offensive output Friday night, Washington State came out swinging early and often against Texas-Arlington Saturday afternoon in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Cougar Head Coach Donnie Marbut made some adjustments to the lineup, including moving senior catcher P.J. Jones to second in the batting order and substituting freshman Wes Hatten for redshirt sophomore Cooper Elliott in right field. The two combined to hit 6-9 and drove in half of the Cougars’ (1-1) runs in their 8-2 route of Texas-Arlington (0-2).

WSU’s junior starting pitcher Jesse Houser managed to escape the first inning allowing only one run on two hits. Houser threw two wild pitches in the inning – the first allowed UTA senior first baseman Levi Scott to advance to second. Junior designated hitter Jackson Morris followed with a single to right, and an error by Hatten allowed Scott to score, giving the Mavericks the early 1-0 lead.

Hatten quickly made up for the error in the bottom half of the first inning. After Jones and senior designated hitter Ian Sagdal singled and junior first baseman Patrick McGrath was hit by a pitch, Hatten singled to left allowing Sagdal and Jones to score to give WSU a 2-1 lead.

Marbut brought in freshman left-handed pitcher Tyler McDowell in the top of the third inning to replace Houser. He kept the Mavericks bats quiet allowing just one hit over 1 and 2/3 innings. WSU’s offense, on the other hand, remained hot in the bottom of the third. Jones drove in his lone run of the game on a single to left field which allowed freshman shortstop Jack Strunc to score from second, extending the Cougars’ lead to 3-1.

WSU tacked on its fourth run of the game when sophomore centerfielder Cameron Frost reached base on an infield single, allowing redshirt sophomore second baseman Shea Donlin to score from third.

The Mavericks never made much of a comeback – Morris scored from second when freshman catcher Will Olson singled to center to cut the Cougars’ lead to 4-2 in the top of the fifth. Both teams remained scoreless until WSU put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth with a four run outburst, which gave the Cougars an 8-2 lead and their first win of the 2015 season.

“There was a step up in intensity today and that was nice to see,” Marbut said in a postgame interview with wsucougars.com. “We have a lot of young kids who are getting comfortable in their roles and they will get better.”

McDowell (1-0) picked up his first career win Saturday in his first college apperance. He played first base Friday, an example of the youth and versatility Marbut noted before the season.

On Sunday, the Cougars will have senior left-hander Joe Pistorese, considered the ace of the staff, start on the hill against Missouri State at 10:00 a.m. PST.

Reporting by Lars Hanson