RICHARDSON, TX (04.02.21) - The UT Dallas baseball team moved into fourth place in the American Southwest Conference Friday afternoon after taking yet another series with a split with East Texas Baptist at the UTD Baseball Field.

The Comets (now 13-7, 10-5 ASC) opened Friday's twin bill with a walk-off, 4-3, victory over ETBU before dropping the series finale to the Tigers, 6-3. UTD opened the three-game set on Thursday with a dominant 14-6 victory. The Comets will now play three of their four remaining conference series on the road, starting with a three-game set at Belhaven in Jackson, Miss., next weekend.

GAME 1 - UTD 4, ETBU 3
Zac Vorst's sacrifice fly capped a two-run 7th as the Comets rallied for a 4-3 win over ETBU to open Friday's doubleheader.

The Comets opened the scoring with two runs on a double by A.J. Liu in the bottom of the 3rd off of ETBU ace Isaiah Alvarenga, but fell behind later in the game after giving up three unearned runs in the 4th inning. Nick Balley was hit by a pitch to open UTD's half of the 7th and moved to second on a single by Jacob Perry. Balley then scored on a clutch single up the middle by Ramon Garza to knot the game, 3-3. Two batters later and runners on the corners, Vorst send a fly ball to right field deep enough for Perry to score the game-winning run.

Carter Cochrane (4-0) spun a complete game victory as limited the Tigers to just two hits while striking out three walk. The Comets tallied six hits off of Alvarenga, who entered Friday's game with miniscule 0.26 earned run average. Perry was 2-for-3 with two runs scored from the lead-off spot while A.J. Liu was 1-for-4 with two RBI.

GAME 2 - ETBU 6, UTD 3
Looking for a three-game sweep of ETBU, the Comets sent five pitchers to the mound in the series finale and dropped a 6-3 decision to the Tigers.

The Tigers opened up the game with a two-run home run by Carson Wilson in the top of the 1st and pushed their lead to 3-0 after two frames. The Comets got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the 3rd on a wild pitch, but ETBU responded with a three-run 4th to extend its lead to 6-1. The Comets got two runs back in the bottom of the 4th on back-to-back RBI hits by Marcos VIllegas and Nick Balley. Villegas used a two-out single to right field to plate Daniel Zamora from second base and then scored on a double down the left field line by Balley.

Neither team would score for the remainder of the contest as both teams' bullpens shutout down their opponents late. The Tigers threatened to add runs to their lead in the 5th, but left two runners on as UTD reliever Ben Soule induced an inning-ending double play. The Comets managed just two hits over the final five frames.

Villegas was 2-for-4 with two runs scored while Vorst finished the final 2-for-4 as well.