IRVING, TX (03.21.09) – You knew someone was going to have to pay eventually for the frustrating start to the 2009 UT Dallas softball season. The victim turned out to be the University of Dallas, who became the 12-3 loser in only the Comets' third win of the season Saturday afternoon.

UTD missed a chance at a sweep, falling 4-3 to Ottawa University (KS) in the opener of a three-team mini-tournament that UTD hosted, but was played at the University of Dallas campus due to a power outage in Richardson. Ottawa also defeated U.Dallas, 2-11, earlier Saturday afternoon.

OTTAWA 4, UTD 3 (boxscore)

The Comets and Lady Braves gave each other plenty of opportunities in a game that featured nine errors and only one earned run. The one earned run (scored by the Comets in a two-run 6th), however, was not enough as UTD gave up unearned runs with five misplayed balls.

UTD pulled to within 2-1 in the 5th when Natalie Grinnell scored on a passed ball, but the Comets gave two runs right back to Ottawa in the 6th when the Lady Braves generated three straight hits after a leadoff walk and error. Caysie Norum drove in Natalie Duran to cut the lead in half, then Carter Ryan scored on a groundout to get UTD to within a run.

With one out in the 7th, Heather Harydzak reached second on an error and tried to tie the game on a single by Duran, only to be cut down at the plate on a relay throw. The UTD threat ended one batter later.

UTD 12, U.DALLAS 3 (boxscore)

The Comets again found themselves down after leadoff walks scored in the 1st and 3rd inning for the Crusaders, but UTD took care of that deficit with a five-run 4th and a seven-run 5th on their way to a "run rule" win.

Five hits, including two-RBI shots by Kaci Hollingsworth and Haley Starkey, sparked the two-out rally in the 4th. Then, five hits and  a pair of UD errors put the game out of reach in the 5th.  Norum was the offensive star, going 3-for-4 with a 2-RBI double.