RICHARDSON, TX (03.29.18) - The UT Dallas baseball team kicked off a three-game American Southwest Conference series at Howard Payne Thursday afternoon with a 6-4 victory over the Yellow Jackets.

The Comets improved to 12-11 overall with Thursday's win and are now 7-3 in ASC play. The two teams will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Friday to closed the three-game set.

UTD gave starter Jamie Andriot (5-2) all the offense he would need in the top of the 1st inning, plating six runs on seven hits. Andriot cruised until the 7th, before giving up four runs, three earned, and making his exit with seven strikeouts. Garrett Hale earned his sixth save, picking up two strikeouts in a scoreless 9th, working around a lead-off walk.

After Josh Covey led off the game with a single down the left field line, he would score the first run of the afternoon on a Barry Casey single. Two batters later, Dylan Palmer doubled the Comets' lead with an RBI groundout, scoring Casey. After a run-scoring wild pitch by HPU starter Dylan Vilaros allowing Connor Scruggs to come home, UTD added a two-run double by Peyton Becker and an RBI single to right by Isaiah Swann to complete the six-run 1st.

The Yellow Jackets would plate four runs all in the 7th, but would leave two runners on base.

Casey finished the game 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored while Becker was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Covey, Palmer and Swann each went 2-for-5 from the plate.