RICHARDSON, TX (03.16.16) - The UT Dallas baseball team had a hard time keeping up with the offensive firepower of 18th-ranked UT Tyler in an American Southwest Conference series opener Friday afternoon, falling to the Patriots, 11-6.

The two teams will meet again in a doubleheader at 12 noon Saturday afternoon at the UTD Baseball Complex.

UTT (14-6, 5-2 ASC) pounded out 15 hits against a trio of Comet pitchers, jumping out to a 11-3 lead going into the 7th inning and squelching a late rally from UTD (7-8, 2-5 ASC). The Comets countered with eight hits, four of which were doubles. Shortstop Jimmy Norris had two extra base hits.

Patriot starter Cason Adams lasted seven innings, striking out six, but gave up three unearned runs after three UTT errors. Meanwhile, Comet starter Aaron Bach (2-4) was chased after a three-run home run in the 5th. Only reliever Zach Bomer was able to tame the Patriot bats, pitching 2.1 innings of no-hit relief to end the game.

After the Patriots opened the game with a solo homer in the 1st, UTD took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the frame. Norris reached on a fielding error and Cody Duplechin followed with a walk. Norris tied the score on a Tim Cole sacrifice fly and Nick Marti delivered a two-out RBI double to drive in Duplechin.

The lead was short-lived as UTT tied the score in the 2nd, then went up 4-2 with a two-run 3rd inning. Duplechin doubled in the 3rd and scored on another error to pull the Comets to within one at 4-3; but the Patriots took command in the 5th with a three-run home run followed by an outfield error that led to another run. They then made it 11-3 with a two-out rally in the 7th that plated three runs.

UTD finally answered in the last two frames. After a Josh Covey (3-for-4) single, Norris doubled and then scored a run on a dropped ball by the Tyler outfield. UTD got one other run on a single from Tim Cole, but left the bases loaded. Covey scored again in the 9th on an RBI double from Norris.