ABILENE, TX (02.27.22) - The No.18-ranked UT Dallas baseball team kept its record unblemished by opening a three-game American Southwest Conference set at Hardin-Simmons with a dominant 11-3 win.

The Comets (8-0, 4-0 ASC) and Cowboys (4-3, 4-3 ASC) meet in a 1 pm doubleheader Monday after the weekend series was pushed back by inclement weather.

UTD jumped on top of HSU early, scoring five runs in the 2nd inning, then ballooned its lead to 10-0 before the Cowboys ever got on the board. The Comets pounded five HSU pitchers for 15 hits, including four doubles while starter Carter Cochrane (W, 2-0) and reliever Kenny Garza (S, 1) limited the Cowboys to just five hits. Two of the HSU hits were home runs, however, accounting for all three home team runs.

Designated hitter Brayshon Savage was 3-for-5 and scored 3 times while Keagan Vance continued his hot start with a 2-for-4 day, driving in a pair of runs. The Comet shortstop is now hitting .414 with eight hits in his last four games. A.J. Liu added a pair of hits for UTD, who are hitting .343 as a team throughout the first eight games.

Starter Cochrane only allowed three hits and struck out six hitters through his first five innings before giving up a pair of 6th inning home runs to the Cowboys. Garza then took over and continued his hitless, scoreless streak with three full innings to pick up his first save of the season. Garza has not allowed a hit or a run in 5.1 innings of work this season.

UTD jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the 2nd, scoring five runs on three hits and two HSU errors. The big blow in the inning was a 2RBI single by Liu with two outs. In the Comet 5th, UTD got six straight two-out hits, including a Vance double. Ramon Garza led off the 6th with a double and scored on a ground out before Liu made it 10-0, coming home on a Hunter Cheek double. The Comets added a single run in the 9th when Savage scored on a Deylan Moreno double.