RICHARDSON, TX (03.04.22) - The 16th-ranked UT Dallas baseball team saw its historic unbeaten 10-0 start to the season come to an end with 9-1 loss to Concordia Texas Friday afternoon, but came back in the nightcap for a 9-0 win to earn a split in the American Southwest Conference doubleheader.

The Comets (11-1, 7-1 ASC) and Tornados (6-5, 6-5 ASC) meet in a single game to conclude the series at 12 noon Saturday.

The Comets, who entered the series as one of the top-hitting teams in the ASC, ran into CTX's highly-rated pitching staff in the opener, managing just three hits in the 7-inning opening loss, their first of the season. But in the second game, UTD's bats came to life for a 14-hit assault and got brilliant shutout pitching from transfer Dylan Hugley and freshman Derek Brieden.

GAME ONE: CTX 9, UTD 1

The Comets took an early 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning when Dylan Moreno scored on a Jacob Perry ground out. But Concordia quickly erased that deficit with three runs on four 4th-inning hits that included a home run. They then added two more in each of the next three innings to quash any thoughts of a UTD rally.

In the meantime, five UTD pitchers didn't help themselves, giving up eight hits, six walks, and two hit batters. Starter Carter Cochrane (2-1) took his first loss of the season in a 4.0-inning start.

GAME TWO: UTD 9, CTX 0

The Comets then turned the tables in the nine-inning second game. Locked in a pitchers' duel for the first 3.5 inninngs, UTD again took an early 1-0 lead in the 4th when Marcos Villegas singled and scored on an uncharacteristic fielding error by the CTX infield. From there, the game spiraled out of control for the Tornados.

In the 5th, UTD started pulling away, scoring five runs on seven hits while sending 11 hitters to the plate. A Perry RBI ground ball scored Keagan Vance for the first run. A.J. Liu followed with a double to chase CTX ace starter Colton Hunter. Villegas greeted the first of four CTX relievers with a 2RBI single up the middle and then Andrew Skivington broke it open with a two-run home run, his first of the season.

The Comets then added a single run in the 6th on a Liu RBI single, and two more in the 7th on a Moreno ground out and Vance single.

The real story for UTD, however, was on the mound. Hugley got four strikeouts in a four-inning shutout start. But Brieden was even better, picking up his second win of the season, throwing five shutout innings while allowing just two hits and striking out four with no walks.

Hunter Cheek led UTD with a 3-for-4 game that included two doubles. Liu, Villegas, Brayshon Savage and Vance each tallied a pair of hits. Concordia contributed two errors and three hit batters to go with two walks.