RICHARDSON, TX (04.06.10) – With wind gusts whipping in at nearly 40 miles per hour, the UT Dallas baseball team blanked McMurry for eight straight innings—and alas, it wasn't enough.
The Comets dropped a 5-4 decision to McM at the UTD Baseball Field on Tuesday, allowing five runs in the 1st inning alone. They inched their way back into contention with scores in the 1st, 3rd and 6th frames, yet, unlike in Monday's win against first-place UT-Tyler, the Comets (15-11, 3-5) couldn't brew up any late-game magic on offense.
“We gave ourselves a chance late, but couldn't get that big hit to put us over the top,” said coach
Shane Shewmake of his Comets, who stranded eight runners throughout.
Third baseman
Joseph Killgore drilled his fourth home run of the season in the 3rd inning,
Clint Dunham blasted a run-scoring single in the 6th, but UTD never fully regrouped after a ruinous start.
McMurry (15-15, 7-5) rattled off five runs and eight hits in the top of the 1st inning—where the Comets committed all three of the game's errors—and grabbed a commanding 5-0 lead before UTD was given an opportunity at the plate.
Mason Thompson (4-1), starting his first game in nearly a month, found his niche thereafter, but lasted only three innings before being replaced by
Colton Wood,
Cameron Brown and
Larry Bolding, in succession.
“That was our plan all along,” said Shewmake. “We wanted Mason to go three (innings), and our other pitchers were going to go two. It worked out like we wanted it to—we just weren't on the right side of the scoreboard when it finished.”
Following McMurry's five-run uprising, Killgore grounded into a double play that plated
Jacob Starnes, and
Adam Hudec was walked with the bases loaded—thus scoring
Randy Lorber from third base.
Dunham's RBI single to left-centerfield in the 6th signaled the last run of the afternoon for UTD. Not even
Jason Diemer, the hero in yesterday's win over UTT, was able to duplicate his clutch hitting efforts in the 8th inning with a runner on the base paths.
McMurry cycled through five pitchers after starter Markie Hall lasted just 2/3 of an inning. Hall walked the first three batters he faced, hurling 12 straight balls in the bottom of the 1st. Reliever Hunter Lane (1-0) was awarded with the win on the mound, while Cory Davis collected his second save of the season.
UTD will now travel to Longview, TX, for a pivotal three-game series with sixth-place LeTourneau (11-18, 2-7)—a team that trails the Comets by 1 ½ games in the American Southwest Conference East Division standings. The Comets are ½ game behind Louisiana College for the fourth and final playoff slot, though the Wildcats will face the unbeaten Patriots in Tyler, TX, this weekend.
“We've got nine conference ball games left, and we need to take two, if not three, games this weekend to try to get on a roll and hit the playoffs on a winning streak,” said Shewmake.
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