RICHARDSON, TX (05.13.21) - The regionally ranked UT Dallas baseball team is now just one win away from its second-ever conference title as the Comets sailed to a 12-7 win over East Texas Baptist Thursday afternoon in the Gold Bracket of the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament Series.
Ramon Garza blasted his school-record third grand slam of the spring in the bottom of the 8th to help stretch the Comets' lead to eight runs at the time before ETBU plated three runs in the top of the 9th. Now 28-10 on the season, the top-seeded Comets will try lock down the ASC title at 2 p.m. in game two of the ASC's Gold Bracket.
The No. 2 seed Tigers (now 29-15) opened the scoring in the top of the 1st with two runs off a three hits, including a lead-off triple by Christopher Shay. However, the Comets answered with four runs in the bottom of the frame and never looked back. UTD added two more runs in the 4th, which the Tigers matched in the next inning, before plating the four runs on Garza's eighth long ball of the season in the 8th.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the 1st, Garza collected his first of his five RBI on the afternoon as he plated lead-off hitter
Jacob Perry with a double to left center. Garza later scored on a sacrifice fly by
Deylan Moreno.
Marcos Villegas, the MVP of the ASC's Blue Bracket last weekend, then gave the Comets their first lead of the day with a two-run blast to right center, scoring
Zac Vorst. The homer was Villegas' team-leading ninth of the season.
In the 2nd,
A.J. Liu picked up his first RBI of the day with a one-out double down the left field line, scoring Perry. Vorst then plated Garza with a single through the left side of the Tiger infield to lift the Comets to a 6-2 advantage. Liu added a two-run homer to right in the bottom of the 4th, scoring Garza, to widen UTD's cushion to six runs, 8-2.
After giving back two runs to ETBU in the 5th, the Comets were held scoreless in their next three at bats before putting the away in the 8th. After a
Daniel Zamora single to open the UTD half of the frame, the Comets loaded the bases with back-to-back walks drawn by
Keagan Vance and Perry. Garza then became just the second UTD player in program history to his three grand slams in a single season, joining former Comet
Kyle Guest (2009-12) with the record.
Garza finish the afternoon 4-for-5 with four runs scored and five RBI as he he accounted for more than third of the Comets hits in the victory. Liu was 2-for-5 with three RBI while Vorst finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. From the lead-off spot, Perry was 1-for-3 with three runs scored as he extended his hitting streak to 17 straight games, the longest by a Comet this spring.
Carter Cochrane improved to 10-0 on the mound as he gave up four runs on eight hits in a 6.0-inning start for the Comets. Cochrane struck out six and walked three before exiting the contest.
The Comets won their only ASC championship in 2018 and are currently making their seventh all-time appearance in the finals of the ASC Tournament. If the Tigers win the second game of the series on Friday, the two teams would play the "if necessary" game at 2 p.m. Saturday at the UTD Baseball Field.
