RICHARDSON, TX (05.21.22) – For the sixth time in the 2022 post-season, the UT Dallas baseball team staved off elimination by blowing the doors off the UTD record book in a season-saving, 32-9 win over Trinity University Saturday afternoon in Game 3 of the NCAA Championship Regional Series at the UTD Baseball Field.
 
After dropping the first two games of the series – including a humiliating 18-13 loss in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader – UTD rebounded with force , setting new school records for runs scored (32), total bases (55) and runs batted in (30). 
 
Second baseman Ramon Garza (who had nine hits on the afternoon) became the first UTD player in history to hit for the cycle, and tied an American Southwest Conference mark for the most runs scored in a single game (6). The Comets pounded out 27 hits in the nightcap, one shy of the school record, but tallied eight doubles, a triple and six home runs.
 
With their backs still to the wall, the Comets (35-16) will still need to take two from the Tigers (34-11) in a potential Sunday doubleheader, scheduled to start at 10 am, in order to advance in the NCAA Tournament.
 
SERIES GAME 2: TRINITY 18, UTD 13
 
The desperation win in Game 3 became even bigger after UTD started the day virtually giving away a slugfest in Game 2 by allowing Trinity to score five unearned runs as a result of four Comet errors and a passed ball that allowed another run to score.
 
With the two teams combining for 31 runs and 39 hits – including 11 for extra bases – UTD continually struggled to hold a lead…and shut down two-out rallies by the Tigers. 
 
The Comets, playing as the home team, scored first in their half of the 1^st inning, but gave Trinity two runs back to start the 2^nd. After rallying for a five-run outburst in the 2^nd, UTD found itself trailing 8-6 after the Tigers scored four runs in the 5^th. After that, Trinity could not be stopped, adding its final 10 runs over the last four innings. UTD got as close as 12-11 with a four-run 7^th, but the Tigers answered immediately to pull back away.
 
Trinity scored 12 of its runs with two-out RBI hits.
 
Garza and Marcos Villegas were a combined 8-for-11 in the game with a double and triple. Nick Balley went 3-for-5.
 
Starter Carter Cochrane (6-4), who had his start interrupted by an hour-long lightning stoppage, was tagged with the loss.
 
SERIES GAME 3: UTD 32, TRINITY 9
 
Despite Trinity's best efforts to keep up in the hit column, the Comet bats could not be tamed in the second game of the day. UTD scored in every inning, blasting 15 extra-base hits and putting the game out of reach early.
 
UTD, this time playing as the visitor, jumped on Trinity starter Jack Martinez and reliever Joel Thomas for seven runs on a six-hit 1^st inning. The Comets then put up a 10-run 2^nd inning, blasting another six hits, a hit batter, two wild pitches and a pair of walks.
 
Three straight doubles from Jacob Perry, Garza and A.J. Liu stretched the lead to 19-0 in the third before Trinity finally got on the board. The Comets added another run in the 4^th, then erupted for five more in the 5^thwith home runs from Liu and Deylan Moreno to go up, 25-4.
 
Garza tripled off the top of the center field wall in the 6^th and added a home run in the 8^th to finish off the cycle. Andrew Skivington and Lucas Abbott also went deep in the later innings as UTD kept piling on the runs. 
 
All nine starters had at least one hit while Garza and Liu each tallied five apiece, and Skivington and Moreno had four-hit games.
 
Starter Trevor McGrath (4-1), who was asked to give the bullpen as much rest as possible, picked up the win with a 6.1-inning outing.