RICHARDSON, TX (04.07.18) - The UT Dallas baseball team kicked off a three-game American Southwest Conference series against league-leading Concordia Texas Saturday afternoon with a 15-2 pounding of the Tornados.

The Comets (15-12, 9-4 ASC) will continue the series with CTX (19-9, 12-4 ASC) on Sunday with a 12 p.m. doubleheader at the UTD Baseball Field.

UTD chased Tornado starter Cole Angelle (4-1) after just five batters in the 1st inning while Comet starter Jamie Andriot was strong in his sixth victory of the season.

Andriot (6-2) gave up a run in the top of the 1st after lead-off double by CTX's Clarence Guidry and a sacrifice fly two batters later, but he would benefit from five runs from his offense in the bottom of the frame.

After a lead-off walk by Josh Covey, Ryan Burciaga gave the Comets a 2-1 lead with a two-run homer to left center, his second of the season. UTD added a two-run single by Luke Richter and a Thomas Craig RBI single to secure a 5-1 lead after one inning.

Andriot gave up a lead-off double in the 2nd frame as well but settled down by retiring the nine batters he faced before giving up a second run in the top of the 5th.

UTD then plated eight runs on just five hits in the bottom of the inning to pull away for the victory. The Comets sent 14 batters to the dish in the frame, but left the bases loaded to limit the explosion to eight runs. Peyton Becker, Covey and Barry Casey each had two-run hits in the inning while Casey was 2-for-2 in the frame with three RBI.

The Comets then added two runs in the bottom of the 6th on RBI singles by Matt Mikusek and Burciaga.

Andriot pitched 8.0 innings, scattering seven hits, striking out eight Tornados. Covey was 2-for-2 with three runs scored and two RBI while Burciaga was 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Five different Comets had multi-RBI outings.