SHREVEPORT, LA (03.17.12) - The only team in the American Southwest Conference with green as an official color, the UT Dallas softball team found a little luck of the Irish Saturday afternoon as the Comets swept Centenary, 15-0 and 6-3, in a road doubleheader.
The Comets (now 15-7) earned their biggest victory in two seasons by scoring 10 runs in the 5th inning for a run-rule shortened win in the opener before scoring three runs in the 9th inning of the nightcap to secure the four-game season sweep of the Ladies. Centenary fell to 1-14 after dropping both games.
UTD returns to action Mar. 24 when the Comets visit East Texas Baptist for an American Southwest Conference East Division doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. in Marshall. The two teams split a twin bill in Richardson on Mar. 13.
GAME 1 - UTD 15, CC 0 (5 inn.) (BOX SCORE)
The Comets held a 5-0 lead going into the 5th inning but exploded for 10 runs in what proved to be the final frame to complete the run-rule victory. Junior pitcher
Jeni Olbeter tossed the first 4.0 innings, limiting the Ladies to just one hit and one walk, both in the 1st inning. Sophomore
Heather Foust tossed the 5th, giving up one hit.
UTD opened the scoring in the 2nd when
Rachel Riley plated
Avery McHugh with a ground out the left side of the Ladies' infield.
Stephanie Harris followed Riley's RBI with an RBI single of her own, scoring
Megan Aragones from third to give UTD a 2-0 lead. In the 3rd, McHugh doubled in
Brittanie Knowles to give the Comets' a 3-0 lead and UTD then added two runs in the 4th on an single by
Kayla Moore, scoring Harris and
Morgan Anderson.
The Comets used six hits and four Centenary errors for their biggest inning of the season, plating 10 runs in the 5th. With one out and the bases loaded,
Haley Starkey kicked off the onslaught with an RBI single to right, scoring McHugh. Anderson then singled in both
Samantha Whittington and Harris to lift UTD to an 8-0 lead.
After an infield single by
Jordan Bratcher to re-load the bases, Moore picked up her third and fourth RBI of the game with a double down the left-field line, scoring Starkey and Anderson. Back-to-back walks by
Jacqueline Rosson and McHugh would add another run, giving the Comets a 11-0 cushion, still with just one out. Two batters later, Whittington reached base for the second time in the frame as she singled in Moore. Harris then added a seventh run in the inning with a single up the middle, bringing home Rosson. The Comets added their final two runs in the inning after a pair of bases-loaded errors by the left side of the Centenary infield.
Moore finished the game 2-for-4 with four RBI and a pair of runs scored while McHugh and Harris both went 2-for-3.
GAME 2 - UTD 6, CC 3 (9 inn.) (BOX SCORE)
The Comets scored three runs in the top of the 9th after Centenary rallied to tie the game in the 7th. UTD opened the scoring with a run in the 2nd and then added a single run in each the 6th and 7th before the Ladies extended the game with three runs in the bottom of the 7th.
After both teams failed to score in the 8th, the Comets jumped on CC in the 9th with one-out singles by Anderson and Bratcher. After Anderson got out on a ground ball by
Hannah Creech, UTD loaded the bases with a two-out walk drawn by Moore. Knowles then broke open the tie with a single to left, scoring Bratcher and Creech, before McHugh added an insurance run with an RBI single up the middle, scoring Moore. The Ladies opened the bottom of the 9th with a hit batter but then went down in order to give UTD the sweep.
The Comets scored the first run of the game on a Starkey single up the middle, scoring Aragones from second. McHugh used an RBI triple in the 6th, scoring Knowles, to double UTD's lead and added a third run in the 7th on a Creech double, scoring Anderson. The Ladies scored all three runs in the 7th with two outs, using four hits, two UTD errors and a wild pitch. Centenary had the potential game-winning run thrown out at the plate by Bratcher from left field. Bratcher had two outfield assists in the inning, getting the second out of the frame at second base as CC's Leah Dark attempted to stretch a single into a double.
Foust (11-1) picked up her ASC-leading 11th win of the season as the tossed the final 2.0 innings, holding the Ladies scoring and giving up just one hit.
Micah Starkey tossed the first 7.0 innings, allowing one earned run on 10 hits with two strikeouts. Knowles led the Comet offense going 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
