RICHARDSON, TX (03.17.05) - For just the second time this season, the UT Dallas softball team has dropped an American Southwest Conference series after Comets fell at home to Hardin-Simmons, 10-8, in the series finale Tuesday. HSU took the series opener, 14-5 in six innings, before UTD salvaged a split of Friday's doubleheader with a 5-2 win.

The Comets (now 10-5, 6-5 ASC) return to play this weekend with a three-game road series at Mary Hardin-Baylor. The two teams will play a 4 p.m. doubleheader Friday before the series finale at 1 p.m. Saturday in Belton.

GAME 1 (FRIDAY) - HSU 14, UTD 5 (6 inn.)
Hardin-Simmons jumped out to quick 5-1 lead after two innings and never looked back as the Cowgirls cruised to a 14-5 win over UTD to snap the Comets' winning streak.

HSU used three runs in the 1st and added two more runs in the 2nd to pull ahead early. UTD scored its run in the bottom of the 1st as Aly Hudec came home on a wild pitch by Cowgirl starter Tori Rodriguez. HSU then added five runs in the 4th before the Comets could plate a second run. In the bottom of the 4th, Taylor Jensen belted her team-leading fourth home run of the season to cut the HSU lead to 10-2. To avoid a run-rule loss in the 5th, UTD plated three runs to trim the Cowgirl lead to five runs. The Comets used RBI singles by Maddie Edwards ad Jessica Ramos for the first two runs and the final run came on a HSU error. However, the Cowgirls finished the game with a four-run 6th frame, collecting a grand slam home run by Carley Willis.

Sara Davison was handed just her second loss of the season in her shortest outing of the year. Davison lasted just one inning, giving up three runs on five hits in the top of the 1st. Megan Aragones would toss 2.1 relief innings, giving up seven runs - five earned - on five hits and Taylor Nabors closed the game, allowing four runs on five hits in 2.2 innings of work. Hudec and Ramos each finished 2-for-3 while Jensen was 1-for-3.

GAME 2 (FRIDAY) - UTD 5, HSU 2
The Comets exploded for their biggest inning of the day in the bottom of the 1st as UTD plated four runs on Cowgirl starter Lara Ammermann during its first at bat. That would be all the runs the Comets would need as they held on for a 5-2 lead to split Friday's twin bill.

Ramos got the Comets on the scoreboard with a two-run homer with two outs in the 1st, her third of the season. Sara Navarro then drew a bases-loaded walk, allowing Jonelle Feikis to score, and Jensen came home on a wild pitch by Ammermann.

HSU plated two runs in the 3rd on RBI singles by Kara LeLeux and Braleigh Middleton to cut the Comet lead in half, 4-2. In the 6th, however, Whitney Wolkow used a pinch-hit single down the right field line to plate Taylor Ervin for an insurance run.

Lauren McLeod (5-2) picked up the victory, going 5.1 innings in the circle. McLeod struck out two and walked one as she gave up two runs on nine scattered hits. Davison earned her second save of the season, tossing the final 1.2 innings without giving up a hit. Feikis finished the game 2-for-3 while Avery McHugh was 2-for-4. Ramos was 1-for-3 with two RBI.

GAME 3 (SATURDAY) - HSU 10, UTD 8
As expected after Friday's results, the series finale between the Comets and HSU was a wild one. UTD took early control of the game, but a five-run 4th frame by the Cowgirls helped HSU to an 10-8 victory.

After spotting HSU two runs in the top of the 1st, the Comets plated three runs in the bottom of the frame to take a quick 3-2 lead. UTD opened its scoring with an RBI single by Ramos, scoring McHugh, and added an RBI groundout by Feikis, scoring Chelsea Sartor, and an RBI double by Jensen, scoring Margeaux Petrash. The Comets then added two more runs in the 2nd thanks to a pair of HSU errors.

However, the Cowgirls regained their lead in the 4th, 7-5, after collecting four hits in the frame along with two UTD errors. The Comets answered in the 5th, thanks to two more HSU errors. With one out, Ramos reached on a double to right-center field and later scored on the first Cowgirl error to draw UTD within a run. Pinch-runner Taylor Ervin would later steal third base and then score on an Edwards ground ball that was booted by the HSU second baseman.

HSU quickly responded with three runs in the 6th, capped by a two-run single by Keagan Jiminez, to take a 10-7 lead. McHugh opened the Comets' half of the 6th with a single to left, her third hit of the game, an later scored on a Ramos sacrifice fly. But, UTD would leave a runner on a third base as the inning ended on a line out. The Comets had the tying run at the plate in the 7th before the game ended on a ground out.

Davison (5-3) was handed her second loss of the weekend, as she tossed 4.0 innings in relief of starter McLeod. Davison gave up six runs, three of which were earned, on seven hits with one strikeout. McLeod allowed four runs, three earned, on four hits, in 3.0 innings. McHugh ended the game 3-for-4 with three runs scored while Ramos and Sara Navarro were each 2-for-3.