SAN ANGELO, TX (05.04.19) - The UT Dallas baseball team's 2019 season came to an abrupt close Saturday with two losses in the Blue Bracket of the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament, played at Foster Field on the campus of Angelo State.

ASC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

After one of the longest games in tournament history, elapsing more than 24 hours due to weather delays and a location change, the fifth-seeded Comets (21-21) returned to action Saturday in a winner's bracket game against No. 8 seed LeTourneau and were handed a 7-3 loss by the YellowJackets. UTD was then outlasted by No. 4 seed Louisiana College, 13-12, after walk-off wild pitch in an elimination contest.

The Comets were making their 11th consecutive postseason appearance and secured a non-losing season for the 18th time in the 18-year history of the program.

GAME 1 - LETU 7, UTD 3
UTD fell behind early, 2-0, after a YellowJacket longball in the top of the 2nd, but the Comets answered with runs in the 3rd and 4th to knot the game, 2-2. However, LETU took the lead back in the 5th and added two runs each in the 8th and 9th to pull away and advance to Sunday's Blue Bracket championship game.


Down 2-0 in the 3rd, the Comets got on teh scoreboard with an RBI single to right field by Thomas Craig, scoring Austin Blanford. UTD knotted the game in the 4th on an Aaron Fanning double to left, scoring Dylan Palmer.

The Comets got a final run in the bottom of the ninth, already trailing, 7-2, with a sacrifice fly by Jacob Perry, scoring Austin Adams.

Craig was 3-for-5 with an RBI while Blanford finished 2-for-4 with a run scored. Starter Brett Bihm (4-5) was handed the loss for the Comets, giving up four runs on six hits in 7.1 innings of work. Bihm struck out four batters without a walk.

GAME 2 - LC 13, UTD 2
After grand slams by both squads early in the contest, the Wildcats used a walk-off, bases-loaded wild pitch in the bottom of the 9th to snag an 13-12 win over the UTD and eliminate the Comets from the postseason.

Down 3-0 after the opening frame, the Comets plated four runs in the top of the 2nd to take their first lead of the contest. Blanford was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded with two outs in the the Comets' half of the 2nd to put UTD on the score board. Zach Jordan then scored on a wild pitch before Matt Mikusek used a single up the middle to plate both Ryan Sloma and Blanford to spot the Comets a 4-3 lead.

The Wildcats responded in the 3rd with five runs on just four hits, including a grand slam by Dane Pedersen to regain a lead, 8-4. But the Comets answered with five runs of their own in the top of the following frame with a Mikusek run-scoring fielders' choice and a Ryan Burciaga grand slam, his seventh home run of the season.

After a scoreless 5th, the Comets added to their lead with a run in the 6th on a Thomas Craig double to left, scoring Jacob Perry, but LC answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame to regain the lead, 11-10.

In the top of the 8th, Burciaga would knot the game with an RBI single up the middle, scoring Perry with one out. Fanning then gave the Comets back a one-run lead with a two-out double left, scoring Burciaga.  But, Keelyn Johnson evened the game in the bottom of the 8th with an RBI triple after the Comet defense extended the inning with a two-out error. 

The Comets got a pair of runners on base in the top of the 9th with a Blanford walk followed by a Mikusek single, but an inning-ending double play brought LC to bat with the game tied, 12-12. After back-to-back singles by the Wildcats to open their half of the 9th, LC loaded the bases with another Comet error. Pedersen would then score the game-winning run on bases-loaded wild pitch with no outs.

Burciaga finished the game 2-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored as the Comets closed the game with 14 hits off of seven LC pitchers. Five other UTD batters recorded multi-hit performances. Comet starter Blake DiValerio lasted just 2.1 innings, giving up six earned runs on seven five hits, but did not factor in the decision. Reliever Carter Cochrane (3-1) was handed his first of the season, allowing three unearned runs on five hits in 2.2 innings to close the contest.