RICHARDSON, TX (03.18.17) - The UT Dallas baseball team won its third consecutive American Southwest Conference series Saturday afternoon, this time picking up its first three-game sweep of the season with a 7-2 and 4-3 extra-inning win over LeTourneau.

UTD (18-4, 7-2 ASC) won the series opener over the YellowJackets (6-14, 0-9) Friday afternoon, 8-0. 

UTD had a combined 17 hits, with Burciaga leading the way with a 4-for-7 afternoon in the doubleheader with five RBI and two runs scored.

The Comets are now off until March 31, when they return to ASC play at home against McMurry.

DH GAME 1: UTD 7, LETU 2

Junior hurler Ruben Renteria improved his perfect record to 5-0 with a 7-2 win in the Saturday opener. Renteria, a transfer from El Paso, struck out six LETU hitters and gave up just a single hit in the final four innnings of the seven-inning game.

Meanwhile, UTD hitters broke a 2-2 tie in the 4th with three runs, then tacked on a pair of insurance tallies in the 6th to finish off the win.

Renteria surrendered a single run in the top of the 1st on a couple of YellowJacket singles, but the Comet bats took a 2-1 lead in their half of the 2nd. Connor Scruggs, Mitch Barati, Garrett Uhl and Luke Richter started the inning with four straight singles, with Richter tying the game with an RBI hit to right field. Isaiah Swann then gave UTD a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly that scored Barati. Three more LETU singles in the 3rd tied the game back up at 2-2.

But the Comets answered in their half of the 4th. Back-to-back walks started the ining and chased LETU starter Haden Simmons. Swann then bunted to move the runners and reliever Luke Ludwig threw the ball past first base, allowing Uhl to score the first run. Richter then scored on a Rodney Corbin sacrifice fly and Ryan Burciaga later brought Swann home on a squeeze bunt RBI.

In the 6th, UTD put the game out of reach. A one-out single from Swann started the rally and he and Josh Covey both came home on a Burciaga double for the final runs.

DH GAME 2: UTD 4, LETU 3 (11 inninngs)

A botched double-play that might have sent the game to the 12th inning gave the Comets a 4-3 win in the finale...and the series sweep.

With one out and the bases full of Comets in the 11th, a tailor-made double-play ball was mishandled by the LETU second baseman, allowing Barry Casey to trot home with the game-winning run. The two teams had been tied at 3-3 since a solo homerun by the YellowJackets in the 8th, and saved the day for UTD, which had stranded base runners all afternoon.

 Casey opened the 11th inning with a line drive blazer that LETU first baseman Jacob Simmons could not keep in his glove. After a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, LETU's coaching staff elected to issue back-to-back intentional walks to load the bases before Luke Richter reached safely on a fielder's choice and the game-winning RBI.

The victory made a winner our reliever Tristin DerMargosian, who pitched three perfect innings of relief to improve to 2-0 on the season. LETU's Kyle Buchanan, a seldom-used reliever who struck out five Comets in his longest outing of the season, took the hard-luck loss.

The Comets needed the good fortune in the 11th to end a frustrating day that saw them leave 14 baserunners aboard, including seven in scoring position.

UTD took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd when Burciaga led off the inning with a double and Casey followed with a double. Scruggs squeezed Burciaga home with the game's first run and Casey scored on a single by Richter.

But the YellowJackets answered immediately with a two-run blast from Gonzalo Sosa that knotted the score at 2-2. UTD then took a 3-2 lead in the 7th with a single, hit batter and two consecutive walks, but left runners at second and third before a double play ball ended the inning.

LETU's Kyle Jacobs tied the game up immediately, leading off the 8th with a solo shot over the left field wall; and the two teams headed to extra frames, with DerMargosian allowing just one base runner on a fielding error.