CLARKSVILLE, AR (03.16.09) – The UT Dallas softball team came up one rally short in the first game of a Monday road doubleheader with American Southwest Conference East Division rival University of the Ozarks, but got the late runs they needed in the second to earn a split and pick up their first conference win.

The Comets rallied from five runs down in the first game of the doubleheader to tie the score 8-8 in the 7th, only to see Ozarks push across the winning run in their half of the inning for a 9-8 loss; then bounced back two different deficits in the second game with six late runs to pull off a 10-7 victory.

UTD (3-9, 1-3) got big offensive days from a number of players, combining for 29 hits in the two games. Freshmen Caysie Norum finished 5-for-8 while Haley Starkey went 3-for-7 with a double and triple. Senior Carter Ryan belted a home run in the Game 2 win.

In the first game of the doubleheader, UTD took an early 2-0 lead, but trailed 8-3 by the time the 7th inning rolled around. The Comets, though, responded with five runs in their last at-bat on Starkey's base-clearing triple to tie up the score before Ozarks ruined the comeback with three hits of their own in the bottom of the inning to drive home the game-winning run.

UTD fell behind 0-2 in the 1st inning of Game 2, but tied up the score with single runs in the 2nd and 3rd with two-hit innings.Ozarks countered with two in the bottom of the 4th and 5th, but UTD answered both threats, scoring two in the 5th on Ryan's home run and an RBI hit from Kaci Hollingsworth, then adding three in the 6th with four hits and an Ozarks error to take the lead. When Ozarks finally was shut down in the bottom of the 6th, the Comets added three more in the top of the 7th, sparked by a Ryan 2-RBI double to put the game out of reach.

BOXSCORES: Game 1 | Game 2