ABILENE, TX (04.25.09) -The UT Dallas baseball team took the old adage about "good pitching stopping good hitting" and knocked it all over Hardin-Simmons University's Hunter Field this weekend as the resilient Comets rallied from a one-game deficit to take the American Southwest Conference first-round playoff series from HSU with a pair of high-powered wins Saturday.
Against an HSU trio of starters that was touted to be among the league's best, the Comets (27-16) pounded out a combined 57 hits and launched 11 home runs on their way to 14-12 and 19-11 victories Saturday after dropping the series opener Friday night, 15-11.
With the series victory, UTD returns to the ASC Championship Tournament May 1-3 at Mississippi College in Clinton, MS. (Related story coming soon).
.jpg" alt="" />For the series, the Comets hit a combined .449 (57-for-127) against an HSU starting staff that entered the post-season with three of the West Division's top ERA's. But the Comets refused to be intimidated by statistics, pounding out 14, 19 and 24 hits in the three games, including 43 against the HSU starters. UTD knocked 14 doubles over the three-game set and upped their national NCAA Division III-leading season home run total to 83.
Senior leftfielder
Jared Smith led the assault with a 9-for-14 weekend that included 8 RBI, 8 runs scored and four home runs, boosting his single-season record total to 23. Seven other players finished the weekend with five or more hits.
Aided by strong southerly wind that was blowing directly over Hunter Field's right-centerfield wall, the UTD bats were not the only ones to contribute to the offensive fireworks. HSU hitters touched the Comet staff for 10 home runs, and nine other extra-base hits, scoring 38 runs in the series. But it was the UTD bats that never let up, and the Comet spirit that refused to give in that claimed the series for UTD.
A come-from-behind 14-12 win in the "must-win" Game 2 of the series turned the tide as the Comets fought their way back from an early 7-0 hole and did it against HSU ace Kyle Barton, the ASC West Division's Pitcher of the Year. By the time UTD had knocked Barton out of the game, it was Comet reliever
Adam Spinn who was putting zeroes up on the board and allowing the Comets to force a third-and-deciding game in the series.
GAME 1: HSU 15, UTD 11 (boxscore)
.jpg" alt="" />The Cowboys outdueled UTD in the series opener Friday night, jumping on UTD starter
Mason Thompson for a 10-2 lead in the first three innings, then holding on tight as the Comets belted five home runs in an attempt to overcome the early deficit. UTD got within three runs (12-9) by scoring seven runs in the middle three innings, but the Cowboys finished off the Comets with a 3-2 advantage in the final three frames.
The Comets were able to touch Cowboy starter Tim Kriegel for 10 runs and 13 hits in an 8.1-iinning start, but could not overcome the deep early hole. Reliever
Brad Buchanan kept the Comets close with a 3.1-inning relief job, allowing just three hits to the final 14 batters he faced, but the Comet bats cooled late - managing just three hits and one run over the final three innings.
UTD struck first with a leadoff homerun from
Neal Gordon and added another run in the 1st. After HSU went up 10-2, both
Matt Kelly and
Cody Ross hit two-run homers in the 4th,
Johnnie Martinez had a solo shot in the 5th and Smith added a two-run homer in the 6th to pull back to within 12-9. But HSU pushed it to 13-9 in the 7th, scoring on a wild pitch; and then added two more in the 8th on a bases-loaded triple.
Jake Eisman drove home two runs with a two-out pinch hit in the 9th for UTD, but it was too little-too late.
Ross was 4-for-6 with four RBI.
GAME 2: UTD 14, HSU 12 (boxcore)
UTD found its back even more against the wall early in the critical Game 2 as Comet starter
Drew Waggoner lasted just nine batters into the game while HSU gifted staff ace Barton a 7-0 lead before the Comets ever got to the plate.
Randy Lorber got one run back with a first-inning solo home run, then the Comets went to work on Barton.
With reliever
Brandon Dinwiddie coming to the rescue and allowing just two hits over the next three innings, UTD went on a 10-hit assault against Barton in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th inning to overtake the Cowboy lead at 10-9. Senior
Chris Biguenet, who was 4-for-4 and finished Saturday with seven hits, homered in the 4th along with Lorber and Smith.
But HSU came back to life and regained the lead (12-10) with a three-run 6th, chasing Dinwiddie. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, the move brought Comet closer Spinn into the game much earlier than usual and he finished out a dominating four-inning performance (his longest of the season), allowing just one HSU hit the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, UTD responded by scoring three runs of their own in the 6th on Smith's second home run of the game and chased Barton. The Comets got an insurance run in the 8th and set the stage for the deciding Game 3.
GAME 3: UTD 19, HSU 11 (boxscore)
Back in the familiar visitor's role, it was the Comets who put the Cowboys in the early hole by getting five hits and four runs in the top of the 1st and taking a lead they would never surrender...though HSU always seemed to be close behind.
HSU got a pair of homers in the 2nd and another run in the 3rd against UTD starter
Damion Chelakis, but the UTD defense turned the second of four double plays in the game to get out of a jam in the 3rd and the Comet batters went back to work against HSU leftie Sam Walker. UTD stretched its lead back out to 8-3 with a six-hit, four-run 4th, then built up a 16-6 advantage over the next four innings with 10 more hits, including Smith's third home run of the day.
Spinn struggled a bit after returning to the mound with just a couple of hours rest, but Chelakis had already given UTD a workman-like six-inning start. UTD avoided the playoff "run rule" and cut the Comet lead to 16-11 with five-run 8th that included a grand slam home run. The Comets, however, responded with three more runs in the 9th, all scoring with two outs, to claim the win.
Smith finished the game 5-for-6 while Ross was 4-for-6 with four RBI.
