MARSHALL, TX (05.12.17) - The No. 6-ranked UT Dallas softball team kicked off its first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III National Tournament Friday afternoon with a 5-3 loss to No. 17 Whitworth at Taylor Field on the campus of East Texas Baptist.

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With the loss, the Comets (36-9) had their school-record 16-game winning streak come to an end will next play in an elimination game at 2 p.m. Saturday against No. 10-ranked ETBU. Due to the round-robin format, however, UTD would advance to the regional title game at 1 p.m. Sunday with a win over the host Tigers. ETBU defeated Whitworth, 6-3, later on Friday.

UTD opened the contest with a lead-off seeing-eye single by sophomore Livermore, however the ASC's leading base stealer was quickly caught stealing for just the third time this season. Two batters later, senior Brittany Perkins blasted her team-leading ninth home run of the season over the short left field wall to propel the Comets to an early 1-0 advantage.

However, Whitworth pitcher Madi Perez would settle down after the long ball, retiring 12 straight Comet batters before Heather Gilbert drew a two-out walk in the top of the 5th frame. UTD would add a single by Ravin Wilson, but would leave both runners on base.

Down 4-1 heading to the 6th, the Comets made their final charge, loading the bases with three straight singles by Hope Griffith, Perkins and Samantha Halliburton to open the inning. UTD cut the deficit to two runs on a Pirate error on a Jessica Vlasek ground ball, scoring Griffith, and then drew within a single run, 4-3, on a Stefanie Polderman single up the middle, scoring Perkins. But, Perez again got out of the jam, inducing a 1-2-3 double play, followed by a inning-ending pop up to limit the Comets offense.

Whitworth (36-9) got a single run back in the bottom of the 6th to regain a two-run advantage. After two quick outs to the top of the 7th, Griffith gave the Comets hope with a deep double to right field, bringing the game-tying run to the plate. After pitching around Perkins with a four-pitch walk, Perez got Halliburton to line out to third base to end the game.

Lauren McLeod (18-2) was handed just her second loss of the season after giving up one earned run on four hits with two strikeouts four walks in 2.0 innings of work. Sara Davison took over with a runner on first in the bottom of the 3rd and completed the contest, allowing two earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts. The Comets managed eights hits off of Perez (24-4), who came into the tournament with a 1.58 earned run average, with Perkins going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI and Griffith finishing 2-for-4 with a run scored.