CLARKSVILLE, AR (05.01.21) – The hot-hitting UT Dallas Comets powered their way to a host's position and probable #1 seed at next weekend's American Southwest Conference Baseball Championship Tournament with a doubleheader sweep of the University of the Ozarks Saturday afternoon in ASC play.
UTD (24-10 overall) used 28 hits, including 13 for extra bases and four home runs, to knock off the Eagles, 8-1 and 20-6, Saturday afternoon at Lonnie Qualls Field to improve their conference record to 19-7. That's good enough for at least a tie with the other ASC frontrunners, Louisiana College and East Texas Baptist, both of home finished their regular season schedule Saturday. UTD does have a rubber game with Ozarks scheduled at 12 noon, weather permitting, but holds a tiebreaker over both ETBU and LC.
Ozarks, which has already qualified for the post-season, dropped to 15-15 overall with a 13-20 ASC record.
Details of the four-team, double-elimination Blue Bracket tournament will be announced by the conference Sunday night. A second four-team Red Bracket tournament will be hosted by the ASC's second seed.
DH GAME 1: UTD 8, OZARKS 1
Undefeated senior hurler
Carter Cochrane picked up his eighth victory of the season, limiting the Eagles to 7 hits, but just one earned run in the 7-inning opener.
Meanwhile, the top of the Comets lineup was a combined 9-for-16 with doubles from
Jacob Perry and
Zac Vorst, who broke the game open with a three-run home run to left field in the 3
rd inning.
Perry started the scoring in the 3
rd, beating out an ifield single, stealing second, then advancing to third on a wild pitch before
A.J. Liu drove him home with a single to right field. Vorst then delivered a three-run shot to give the Comets a 4-0 edge.
Ramon Garza singled to start the 5
th and came home on a two-out Vorst double. After loading up the bases, UTD got an RBI walk and hit batter to stretch the lead to 6-0. Perry, who doubled to open the 6
th, made it 7-0, coming home on a Liu groundout. After loading the bases again in the 7
th,
Nick Balley reached on an infield error, allowing the final run to score.
DH GAME 2: UTD 20, OZARKS 6
Ramon Garza belted a pair of home runs – one a grand slam – to lead a UTD offense that pounded five Eagles pitchers for 18 hits and 16 runs in the final three innings. Perry (4-for-5) contributed three doubles while
Marcos Villegas (4-for-5) homered along with
Hunter Cheek.
The Comet bats made a winner of
Blake Birdwell (4-3), who threw the first 5.1 innings, surrendering just two runs on four hits with a strikeout.
While UTD was pounding out 18 hits, the Ozarks pitching staff contributed 11 walks and three hit batters.
The Eagles actually struck first, scoring twice in the bottom of the 1
st, but UTD tied in in the 3
rd on a Perry double and the first of two Garza home runs. UTD took control in the 5
th with a 3-2 lead after Perry doubled again, driving home Cheek. In the 6
th, the Comets made it 4-2 on a sacrifice fly from
Daniel Zamora, scoring Vorst.
UTD built a 7-2 cushion in the 7
th, with a bases loaded walk and a 2-RBI double from Ramon Moreno. Ozarks made it interesting in their half of the 7
th when a two-out 3-RBI home run cut the advantage back to 7-5.
But the Comets answered with authority, scoring five runs in the 8
th. UTD loaded the bases three times in the inning, setting the stage for a Garza grand slam, a three-run shot from Villegas and a Perry RBI hit that made it 15-5.
A Liu triple started another five-run 9
th that included the Cheek grand slam.
