University of Texas at Dallas Athletics

ALPINE, TX (04.01.2022) - Even playing with a depleted roster, the nationally-ranked UT Dallas baseball team snapped a four-game losing streak in a big way Friday night, sweeping the first two games of a three-game American Southwest Conference series from Sul Ross State, 7-4 and 25-9.

The Comets (19-6, 12-5 ASC), who made the long trip to Alpine without several regulars due to injuries and illness, turned a pair of late double plays to hold off the Lobos (10-13, 7-10 ASC) in the opener, then erupted for 27 hits in a record-setting nightcap to claim the one-sided win.
 

Junior Zach Sanchez set an all-time UTD record in the nightcap with a six-hit game and was one of four Comets to earn a tie for a spot in the record book with seven at-bats in a single game.

Junior outfielder A.J. Liu was an offensive force for the evening, going a combined 8-for-10 with a home run, and scoring five runs in the two games.

The two teams meet in the series finale Saturday at 1 pm at Alpine's historic Kokernot Field.

DH GAME 1: UTD 7, SRSU 4

The Comets broke a 4-4 tie with rallies in the last two innings of the seven-inning opener to break the team's four-game losing streak and set the stage for a big night at the plate.

UTD, which pounded out 14 hits over just seven frames, scored two runs in the 6th, then added a single tally in the 7th to make a winner of starter Dylan Hugley (3-1). More importantly, the Comets twice got out of trouble, turning double plays in both the final two innings to preserve the win. Hugley struck out five in a five-inning start and closer Orion Drymond was called on in the 7th to pick up his 8th save of the year.

UTD jumped on the board first with a two-run 3rd inning that included a Jacob Perry home run and an RBI single from Zac Vorst that scored Liu. But the Lobos loaded the bases in their half of the frame and got a bases-clearing triple to go up, 3-2. UTD answered, however, with a 2-RBI single from Keagan Vance in the 4th that drove in Deylan Moreno and Hunter Cheek.

After the Lobos tied the score at 4-4 in the 5th, UTD got a two-out double from Vorst that brought home Liu and Marcos Villegas to break the tie. The Comets then added another run in the 7th with back-to-back doubles from Kaiden Lubojacky and Vance.

Liu, Cheek and Vance all had three hits in the game while Vorst and Vance were both credited with three RBI.

DH GAME 2: UTD 25, SRSU 9

UTD ran away with the nightcap early, scoring 17 runs over the first four innings and threatening the record book with a continuous assault the rest of the way. By the end of the night, the Comets had recorded 52 at bats (just two short of a school record) and 27 hits (one shy of the school mark). Eight of the nine starting position players for UTD had recorded multi-hit games, led by Liu (5-for-7) and Sanchez (6-for-7). Sanchez set a new UTD record with six hits while also joining Brayshon Savage, Liu and Villegas with a record-tying seven at-bats.

The Comets gave up an early run to the Lobos, but responded immediately. Four straight hits, a walk and a SRSU error led to a 4-1 UTD advantage in the 2nd. Savage, Lucas Abbott and Sanchez all drove in runs.

But a nine-run outburst in the 3rd put the game out of reach for the Comets. UTD sent 11 hitters to the plate and collected five hits and two SRSU errors to go up 13-1. Liu's two-run home run was the big blow in that inning.

UTD then added four more in the 4th on four hits, including RBI shots by Andrew Skivington and Liu. After the Lobos chipped into the lead with a four-run 4th, UTD then added five more runs over the next two frames, then added three late runs to withstand a three-run rally by SRSU in the bottom of the 9th.

Trevor McGrath (1-1) picked up the win for the Comets.