ARLINGTON -- Georgia State dropped its Sun Belt Conference opener 6-4 at UT Arlington Friday evening at Clay Gould Ballpark.

UT Arlington (7-9, 1-0 Sun Belt) rallied from a 4-1 deficit by scoring four runs in sixth inning off Georgia State starter Hunter Gaddis (4-1), who suffered his first loss.

Georgia State (11-7, 0-1 Sun Belt) jumped in front with four runs in the first two innings. Justin Jones started the scoring with a solo homer, his second of the season, in the first inning.

In the second inning, the Panthers put runners at second and third with one out after an error, a walk and a sacrifice. Kendall Ford brought one run home with a groundout, and then Jones beat out a bunt to score Luke Leonard from third. After Jones stole second, Nick Gatewood singled him home to give Georgia State at 4-0 lead.

But after the hot start, Georgia State's bats went cold against UTA lefty Brad Vassar (2-1), who pitched six innings and five hits and four runs but only one earned while striking six and walking three.

The Panthers led 4-0 until the fifth inning, when Noah Vaughan hit a solo homer for the Mavs, ending a string of 16 straight scoreless innings for Gaddis, the reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week.

Then the Mavs batted around in the sixth inning, aided by two walks, a hit batter and an error to score four runs and take a 5-4 lead.

After UTA took the lead, Andrew Gross finished the game with three scoreless innings to earn his first save.

"The first third of the game was really good, but for whatever reason, we lost momentum and focus and we let the game drift," head coach Greg Frady said. "I called the team together and told them that I thought UTA would make a run, like every conference team will. We weren't able to match that. It's disappointing to come away with a close-game loss."

The series continues with a 3 p.m. ET game Saturday. Sunday's series finale has been moved up to a 1 p.m. ET first pitch.