ABILENE, TX (05.01.15) - Senior right-hander Tyler Dauer took a perfect game into the 6th inning, but the Comets could not hold on as they fell to Hardin-Simmons, 6-3, to open a three-game American Southwest Conference series Friday night.

The Comets (now 23-15, 17-8 ASC) will wrap up the regular season with a 1 p.m. doubleheader with HSU Saturday. With the win, the Cowboys improved to 13-22 overall and 9-15, clinching a post-season berth with the win.

Dauer retired the first 15 batters he faced before giving up six hits in the 6th and making an exit before the end of the frame. He finished the 5.1-inning outing with nine strikeouts before allowing four runs.

UTD opened the scoring in the top of the 2nd when Ryan Downs beat out a two-out infield single to score Haden Johnson from third base. The Comets would add a second run in the 5th on a single by Tim Cole, scoring Josh Covey, and a final run in the 6th with a one-out Covey bases-loaded single, scoring Kaleb Robinson.

After a pitching change in the 6th, HSU reliever Mike Richardson would get the Cowboys out of potential big inning as he was the beneficiary of a double play on a Jimmy Norris fly ball to right field. HSU's Cody Berryman would throw out Pierce Fly at home to complete the double play and end the Comets' scoring threat.

HSU's Elijah Perez broke up Dauer's perfect game with a 6th inning lead-off double, sparking a four-run frame for the Cowboys. HSU added five singles after Perez' two-bagger, the final four hits scoring runs. The Cowboys tacked on two final runs in the 8th.

Kaleb Robinson finished the game 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored while Cole was 2-for-3 and Norris, Johnson and Covey were each 2-for-4. Cole Hanson took over in the 6th and finished the game, giving up two runs on two hits with a strikeout in 2.2 innings of work.