CLINTON, MS (05.01.09) - The UT Dallas baseball team fell hard to Mississippi College in the opening game of the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament  Friday night, managing just three hits in a 10-0 loss to the Choctaws at Frierson Field.

One week after pounding out 57 hits and knocking 11 home runs in a three-game series with Hardin-Simmons, the Comets (27-17) couldn't solve the pitching of MC ace Brett Hinson. In a game shortened to seven innings by the ASC Tournament "mercy rule," Hinson allowed just four UTD batters to reach base, giving up just one walk and striking out 10 in a dominating performance.

UTD will meet Texas Lutheran University, a 7-6 loser to UT-Tyler, in an elimination game at 12:00 noon Saturday. (LISTEN LIVE).  If UTD can defeat TLU, they'd face a second elimination game at 7 pm Saturday night against the loser of the winner's bracket game between MC and UTT. The tournament championship game(s) are set for 1 pm Sunday.

Because of the critical nature of the opening game of the tournament, UTD Coach Shane Shewmake decided to give his team's most effective pitcher - closer Adam Spinn - his first start of the season. Spinn lasted through 5.1 innings, his longest appearance of the season, but struggled to keep the Comets in the game. The Choctaws got single runs in the first two innings while managing just one hit. A pair of walks, a hit batter and the first of what would be five UTD errors opened the door to a 2-0 MC lead.

Things fell apart for the UTD starter in the 3rd when MC put three more runs on the board with a five-hit inning. After shutting MC back down in the 4th and 5th, the Choctaws went back to work in the 6th when three hits and another UTD error chased Spinn. MC then ended the game early with a pair of runs in the 7th to activate the "mercy rule."

The Comets' only threat of the game came with two outs in the 3rd when Neal Gordon and Randy Lorber posted back-to-back hits.

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