RICHARDSON, TX (03.09.19) - The UT Dallas softball team took a short break from league play Saturday night to host SUNY Oneonta in non-conference action. The Comets dropped the opening contest, 11-9, before run-ruling the Red Dragons, 12-4, in five innings in the night cap.
The Comets (6-8) will return to American Southwest Conference action Thursday when they host Howard Payne for a 4 p.m. doubleheader at the UTD Softball Field to kick-off a three-game set. The two teams will close the series with a single game at 12 p.m. Friday.
GAME 1 - ONEONTA 11, UTD 9
Freshman
Amy Jensen became the first Comet ever to record two triples in a single game as UTD dropped a back-and-forth game with the Red Dragons, 11-9, to open the twin bill.
Jensen went 2-for-4 from the plate with two RBI and a run scored as she picked up her second and third triples of the season in the loss. Jensen collected up her first three-bagger with two outs in the first with a laser to right field, scoring a pair of runs. She then added a two-out triple down the left field line with nobody on base in the 6th.
Down 1-0 coming to bat for their first time, the Comets plated four runs in the bottom of the opening frame. In addition to Jensen's two-out triple, UTD picked up a run a sacrifice fly by
Ravin Wilson, scoring
Melissa Livermore, and a two-out single up the middle by
Elizabeth Brann, scoring Jensen, to snag a 4-1 lead.
The Red Dragons answered with three runs in the top of the 2nd to knot the game, but UTD regained a slim cushion in the bottom of the inning with a two-out
Jessica Vlasek triple to right, scoring Livermore. The Comets added another run in the 3rd with a lead-off homer by Wilson, her team-best fifth of the season, pushing their lead to 6-4.
After Oneonta plated four runs in the top of the 4th to take back an 8-6 lead, the Comets responded one more time with three runs in the bottom of the 4th. After back-to-back doubles from
Hope Griffith and Vlasek to open the scoring in the 4th for UTD,
Amber Williams launched a two-run shot to give the Comets back the lead, 9-8.
However, the Red Dragons added three runs in the top of the 5th for the final scoring of the contest. UTD used a hit batter and a Livermore single to bring the game-winning run to the plate in the 7th, but closed out the contest with a ground ball to third base.
Livermore closed out the game 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three stolen bases while the trio of Vlasek, Jensen adn Brann were all 2-for-4. UTD's three triples as a team matched the program record, set on two two previous occasions.
GAME 2 - UTD 12, ONEONTA 4 (5 Inn.)
The Comets scored in every inning as they bounced back with a 12-4, five-inning win over Oneonta in the late game Saturday.
UTD plated run in the 1st, four in the 2nd, three in the 3rd and two each in the 4th and 5th to secure the program's third run-rule victory of the season. Wilson went 3-for-3 with three runs scored in the contest and had the game-ending hit with a two-out double to left center with no outs in the bottom of the 5th.
The Comets opened the scoring with a RBI ground out by Vlasek, scoring Livermore, in the 1st and and then added four runs on six hits in the 2nd to snag a 5-0 cushion. Jensen doubled in Wilson to open the second-inning scoring before the Comets added a sacrifice fly by Livermore followed by an RBI single from Griffith and a run-scoring double by Vlasek later in the inning. Two runs would come home on a Brann single in the 3rd before the Comets pushed their lead to 8-0 when Brann came home later in the inning on a wild pitch.
Oneonta made it interesting with a four-run 4th, sending eight batters to the plate, but UTD answered with two runs in the bottom of the 4th as Jensen and
Nicole Peters each collected RBI ground outs to push the Comets back to a 10-4 lead, setting up Wilson's game-winning hit one inning later.
BriAnna Young (2-1) picked up the victory in the circle, scattering four hits with three earned runs in 3.1 innings of work.
Lexi White locked the win with 1.2 innings of relief, giving up one run on five hits.
Vlasek was 3-for-4 for in the win while Livermore and Brann each finished 2-for-3. Livermore had another steal in the night cap, giving her four for the twin bill and now 172 over her four-year career with the Comets, now just four swipes shy of the NCAA Division III all-time mark of 176 stolen bases.
