BELTON, TX (03.19.22) - A night after UT Dallas pitching tossed a 6-0 shutout in a series-opening win at Mary Hardin-Baylor, the 7th-ranked Comets had to settle for an American Southwest Conference doubleheader split with the Cru after over six and half hours of baseball Saturday afternoon.
The Comets (17-3 overall) fell to 10-2 in ASC play, but kept pace with league-leader East Texas Baptist (13-2 ASC), which also split a doubleheader at McMurry Saturday afternoon. The Comets travel to Abilene to face the War Hawks for three games next weekend. UMHB (9-9 overall) upped its ASC record to 5-7.
After taking Friday's series opener, 6-0, the Comets had to hold on for a 13-9 victory in the first game of the doubleheader, which featured an 18-run 7th inning between the two teams. UMHB had the bases loaded and tying run at the plate after plating eight to make it interesting. UMHB again struck late in the nightcap, scoring four times in the last two frames to hold on for a12-10 win.
The Comet hitters kept up their onslaught, accounting for 28 hits during the pair.
Ramon Garza homered in each game to cap off a 9-for-15 weekend.
DH GAME 1: UTD 13, UMHB 9 (7 innings)
A wild 7th inning forced UTD Coach
Shane Shewmake to make unplanned use of closer
Orion Drymond to finally get the final out in a bizzare opener that the Comets eventually won, 13-9. Drymond picked up his seventh save of the season, entering the game with the bases loaded and the potential tying run at the plate after the Cru rallied for eight runs in their final at bat to make things interesting.
Fortunately for UTD, it was the Comets who had similar fortune in the top of the inning, sending 16 hitters to the plate and scoring 10 runs with 10 hits to pull away from what had been a 3-1 lead. But things got ugly fast in the bottom of the 7th after a pair of strikeouts. One out away from ending the seven-inning game early, the Cru put together six hits, two walks and took advantage of a Comet error to score eight runs, forcing three pitching changes and ending the game with the bases full and Drymond on the mound to put out the fire.
Starter
Carter Cochrane (W, 3-1) left with a lead after a five-inning start, allowing just one run on three hits and striking out six. By the time it was over, UTD had collected 15 hits, including 4 doubles, a triple and a Garza home run. Garza finished 4-for-5 with four RBI while
Hunter Cheek had a triple and drove in three as one of six Comet hitters with two or more hits.
UMHB actually scored the first run of the game in the 1st, but UTD rallied to tie the game in the 3rd on the Garza solo home run. The Comets then broke the tie in the 6th as Garza and
Jacob Perry had back-to-back doubles to take a 3-1 lead. The bullpen took over and was cruising until things came unraveled in the 7th.
DH GAME 2: UMHB 12, UTD 10
This time, it was the Comets who were shut down after the first five innings and saw the Cru come back to take the win. After five innings, the Comets were up 10-7, but managed just one hit the rest of the way. Meanwhile, UMHB scored three times in the 7th to take an 11-10 lead and added an insurance run in the 8th for the 12-10 victory.
UTD used five pitchers in the loss, none of whom could stop the Cru comeback. UTD's
Ryan Vera (3-1) took the loss.
The Comets opened the game putting five runs on the board before UMHB ever came to the plate. The Cru got three of those back in the bottom of the 1st before UTD tacked on two more, taking advantage of a pair of UMHB errors in the 3rd. But the Cru tied the score at 7-7 in the bottom of the inning, scoring four times on three hits and an error.
In the 5th, UTD broke the tie with a three-run inning that featured Garza's second home run of the day. But the bullpen couldn't hold the lead when UMHB took an 11-10 lead with three runs scoring with just a single hit. Cru runners scored in the inning on a bases loaded walk followed by a passed ball. They added a single run in the 8th to seal the win.
UTD had 13 hits with Garza, Liu,
Andrew Skivington and Moreno getting two apiece.
