RICHARDSON, TX (04.24.21) - Thanks to a stellar pitching performance from
Carter Cochrane in the second game of the day, the UT Dallas baseball team managed a split with LeTourneau Saturday afternoon as the two teams opened a three-game American Southwest Conference series at the UTD Baseball Field.
The Comets (now 20-10, 16-7 ASC) opened Saturday with a tough 12-3 loss to LETU, but responded with a 4-0 blanking of the visiting YellowJackets (now 14-17, 12-11 ASC) in the second game, forcing a rubber game between the two squads at 12 p.m. Sunday.
GAME 1 - LETU 12, UTD 3
LeTourneau plated one run in the 1st and four more in the 2nd to jump early en route to a 12-3 win over the Comets to kick off Saturday's twin bill.
The YellowJackets got a two-run home run from Bryce Brueggenmeyer to cap their four-run 2nd before the Comets could plate three runs to draw back with two scores by the end of the 3rd. UTD got on the scoreboard with a run on a fielder's choice ground out by
Hunter Cheek in the 2nd. The Comets then used back-to-back run-scoring singles by
Zac Vorst and
Deylan Moreno to cut the LETU lead to 5-3.
However, the YellowJackets posted another four-run frame in the 4th, including another two-run homer by Brueggenmeyer, and tacked on two in the 5th and one final run in the 7th. The Comets managed just one hit over the final four frames.
Vorst was the lone Comet with a multi-performance, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI as UTD managed just six hits off of LETU starter Raul Martinez.
GAME 2 - UTD 4, LETU 0
Cochrane improved to 7-0 this spring while posting his first shutout of the season in the Comets' 4-0 win over LETU to wrap up Saturday's doubleheader.
The right-hander out of Houston struck out six while limiting the YellowJackets to just four hits in his third career shutout. Cochrane retired LETU in order in four of the nine frames.
The Comets gave Cochrane all the offense he needed in the bottom of the 3rd when
Ramon Garza singled up the middle to plate
Jacob Perry.
Daniel Zamora later added his team-leading seventh homer of the season, scoring a pair on a towering shot to right field. Vorst tacked on a sacrifice fly in the 7th, scoring Garza, to complete the scoring.
UTD finished the victory with 10 hits with Liu going 3-for-3 from the plate with an intentional walk. Zamora was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.