Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ABILENE, TX (02.16.13) - The UT Dallas softball team jumped ahead early to earn a 7-1 season-opening win at Hardin-Simmons, but darkness ended the second game of the doubleheader with the game tied, 13-13, Saturday.

It was the first tie in the 13-year history of the UTD softball program.

The Comets (now 1-0-1) will now take nearly two weeks off before returning to action March 1-2 at the American Southwest Conference Crossover Tournament in Farmers Branch.

GAME 1 - UTD 7, HSU 1
The Comets plated five runs in the top of the first inning of the opener and added two more runs in the seventh before host Hardin-Simmons scored its only run of the game in the bottom of the final frame.

Senior Jeni Olbeter (1-0) scattered six hits in a complete-game performance while striking out two Cowgirls and issuing one walk. Jonelle Feikis led the UTD offense, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI while Stephanie Harris and Rachel Riley each went 2-for-4. Riley and Morgan Anderson each had a pair of RBI in the win.

After a lead-off walk by Hannah Creech to open the game, Brittanie Knowles opened the scoring with an RBI single to centerfield, scoring Creech from second base. After a single by Megan Aragones, Riley doubled the Comets' lead with a double to left, scoring Knowles. Feikis gave UTD a fourth straight hit, using a double to left to plate Aragones, giving the Comets a 3-0 cushion, Two batters later, Anderson's double to left-center scored both Riley and Feikis to complete the five-run frame.

In the seventh, Riley collected her second RBI of the game with a one-out double to left, scoring Knowles. Riley later came home on a single by Jordan Bratcher.

GAME 2 - UTD 13, HSU 13
The Comets watched a nine-run lead in the fifth inning turn into a come-from-behind effort for the Cowgirls, who kept the game going before the two teams had to settle for a 13-13 tie because of darkness.

With a 3-0 lead going into the fourth frame, the Comets scored six runs to seemingly secure a run-rule victory over HSU. However, the Cowgirls avoided picking up their second straight loss by scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend the game.

UTD then added two runs in the sixth to regain an 11-4 lead, but the Cowgirls exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the frame to grab a 12-11 lead over the Comets. UTD plated a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to regain a lead, but Hardin-Simmons tied the game up with one final run and had two outs when the umpires ruled the field unplayable.

UTD sophomore transfer Jessie Richardson was brilliant through four innings, holding the Cowgirls scoreless until three earned runs in the fifth frame. The sophomore from Cleburne, who played at Oklahoma Baptist last year, finished allowing six hits with three strikeouts and two walks in her 5.0-inning debut. Aragones tossed the final 2.0 innings, allowing nine runs, six unearned, on 10 hits.

The Comets opened the scoring in the first inning when Knowles reached on a two-out double, advanced to third on a Riley single and scored on a wild pitch. UTD picked up two more runs in the third on a sacrifice fly by Avery McHugh followed by another Cowgirl wild pitch.

In the fourth, the Comets did all their damage with two outs. With runners on second and third, Knowles opened the scoring with a two-run single to left, plating Bratcher and Creech. McHugh then belted UTD's first home run of the season to lift the Comets to a 7-0 cushion. After a Riley infield single, UTD added an RBI triple by Feikis and a run-scoring double by Robin Thomas.

In the bottom of the fifth, HSU scored four runs on four hits along with a Comet error to avoid the run-rule. UTD then got a two-run single by Aragones, scoring Riley and Thomas in the sixth to regain a 11-4 lead.

The Cowgirls (0-1-1) scored eight runs on nine hits and a pair of UTD errors to take their first lead of the doubleheader, 12-11. In the top of the seventh, Knowles collected her third RBI of the game with a double, scoring Harris to tie the game again, then took a 13-12 lead when freshman Aly Hudec doubled to score Knowles. However, with two outs in the bottom of the frame, HSU's Mac Clay, who went 5-for-5 in the game, plated Jayton Gordon with a single to knot the game, 13-13, before Kara LeLeux popped up to end the inning and the game.

Knowles was 3-for-3 with four runs scored and three RBI while Feikis was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Riley and Thomas each had two hits.