REDLANDS, CA (02.14.20) - The UT Dallas baseball team rallied from a five-run deficit Friday. and broke a 9th inning tie with three more runs Saturday to defeat The University of Redlands, 12-9, in a non-conference game that spanned over two days.

The Comets (2-2), who trailed the Bulldogs (2-3) by a 9-5 score going into the 6th frame Friday night, put four runs on the board in the top of the 7th to knot the game at 9-9 just before the contest was suspended due to darkness. When the game was resumed in the bottom of 7th Saturday morning, the two teams battled through two scoreless frames before UTD rallied for three runs with two outs in their half of the 9th to claim the win.

The big blow for the Comets in the 9th-inning rally was a towering 2-RBI triple to left-center field from DH Hunter Cheek that scored Chandler Boyd and A.J. Liu. Liu had singled to give the Comets their first lead since the 2nd inning with an RBI single that scored Jacob Perry.

Senior Blake Divalerio took over on the mound, pitching three shutout innings Saturday to preserve the tie game for the Comets, picking up his second consecutive win for UTD.

The game might not have been salvageable for UTD after the Bulldogs took advantage of 10 hits and four Comet errors through the first five innings to build a 9-4 lead. The Comets had put four runs on the board in the 2nd with a five-hit inning that included junior Nick Balley's (3-for-5, 4 RBI) first of two triples in the game. But UTD was shut down for the next four frames while Redlands rallied with eight runs and were up, 9-5, going into the 7th.

UTD got one back in the 6th when the Comets loaded the bases with two outs, and Liu drew an RBI walk to make it, 9-5. In the 7th, a pair of two out walks put two runners on and set the stage for Balley's second triple of the game. Balley then stole home to cut the lead down to one before Perry walked, stole second and scored on an error by the Redlands shortstop - UTD's only unearned run of the game. With darkness approaching, the game was suspended and completed Saturday morning.

In addition to Balley, Liu, Cheek and catcher Deylan Moreno all had multi-hit games. 

The three-game series continues Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.