COLLEGEVILLE, MN (05.29.21) - The UT Dallas baseball team had its 11-game winning streak snapped Saturday night with a 4-3 loss to Pacific in the winner's bracket of the regional round of the NCAA Division III National Championship, held at Haugen Field at Becker Park on the campus of Saint John's.
 
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Pacific stunned the Comets early, scoring three runs after the visiting Comets had taken a 1-0 lead in their first at-bat. UTD failed to get a leadoff hitter on base again until the 7th and 8th innings, but were not able to cash in either time. The Comets stranded 10 baserunners in search of a key hit.

"We were hoping for a shutdown inning after getting that first run, but we gave up three and that kind of got us in a hole," UT head coach Shane Shewmake said afterwards. "We kept battling back and had a chance to stop them, but every time we would score, they would score. We had a couple opportunities, but couldn't get the big hit to get them in."
 

With the loss, the Comets (now 30-11) will face elimination Sunday morning in an 11 a.m. rematch against No. 25-ranked Chapman, a team UTD outlasted in the opening round, 14-9, on Friday. With a win, the Comets would play in a second Sunday elimination game, that contest set for 6 p.m. UTD opened the tournament with a 14-9 win over Chapman Friday.

  Pacific (now 33-13) will face regional top seed and No. 19-ranked St. Thomas in the winner's bracket final at 2:30 p.m. The Comets would play the loser of that contest if they manage a second win over Chapman Sunday morning.

UTD managed just eight hits against a pair of Pacific pitchers, including closer Davis Koester, who threw the final three innings. 
 
The Comets opened the scoring early in the contest with a single run in the top of the 1st as Jacob Perry drew a lead-off walk, moved to third base on a single by Ramon Garza and then scored on a ground out by A.J. Liu, to give UTD an early 1-0 lead. However, the Boxers responded with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the frame to take a 3-1 advantage.
 
Both teams would have multiple opportunities to score over the next three innings, but neither team would dent the scoreboard again until Marcos Villegas laced a two-out double to left in the top of the 5th, plating Zac Vorst, to cut the Pacific lead to 3-2. But just as they did in the 1st, the Boxers answered with back-to-back hits to open the bottom of the frame to regain a two-run cushion, 4-2.
 
After three quiet frames, Garza woke up the Comet dugout with a one-out solo home run to left field to draw UTD back to a single run. The long ball was his ninth of the spring. However, that would be all the offense the Comets would muster in the final frame.
 
The Comets were held to three or fewer runs for just the fifth time this season and first time in nearly two months. UTD was outhit by the Boxers, 13-8, with the Comets managing just two extra-base hits in the loss.
 
Marcos Villegas was 2-for-3 from the plate with a double while Garza was 2-for-4 with a homer. Perry extended his hitting streak to 20 straight games, going 1-for-4 with a two-out single up the middle in the 6th.
 
Comet starter Blake Birdwell gave up all four runs to Pacific while making his exit with one out in the 5th inning. Birdwell (5-4) struck out two Boxers while issuing one walk. Freshman Joshua Wood was impressive throwing the final 3.2 innings of the game, holding Pacific to just two hits with four strikeouts.
 
The Comets are making their third-ever appearance in the NCAA D-III National Championship, winning at least two games in their first two trips to the event. UTD is now 5-5 all-time in the national tournament.