RICHARDSON, Texas - The UT Dallas baseball team claimed its fifth consecutive American Southwest Conference series after splitting Friday's double-header with Howard Payne at UTD Baseball Field.
The Comets (18-11, 11-7 ASC), who are tied for second in the league with nine games remaining, won the opening game 6-2 in seven innings before the Yellow Jackets (13-16, 7-11 ASC) took game two 10-8.
In the opener, sophomore
Dylan Hugley (3-1) went the distance, striking out five while allowing six hits, two runs and a pair of walks. Brayden Ferrie (4-2) took the loss for HPU, allowing five hits and three runs with one strikeout over five innings.
The Yellow Jackets went up 2-0 in the top of the second with a RBI single by JP Zuniga-Rodriguez and squeeze bunt by Carson Wert. The Comets picked up a run in the fourth when first baseman
Robert Hines hit a two-out double and scored on a base hit by
Dylan Bivins.
UTD put up five runs in the sixth, including a go-ahead two-run single by
Daniel Zamora for the final 6-2 tally. Hugley cruised late in the game, retiring 14 of the final 15 batters he faced.
In the nightcap, HPU opened the contest with six straight hits, a walk and a hit batter, leading to six runs. Comet reliever
Kenny Garza came in and retired all but one batter he faced, recording 16 consecutive outs over 5.2 innings, allowing just one hit with five strikeouts which kept UTD in the game.
The home team began to chip away at the lead in the second with a RBI-double from right fielder
Luke Finn. The Comets added four more in the third to cut the deficit to one. Second baseman
Andrew Skivington recorded a two-run home run over the right field fence and Zamora had another two-run single in the inning. Catcher
Austin Nairn led the bottom of the fourth off with a base hit and later scored on a
Jaeger Self double to tie the game at 6-6.
After Garza exited the game, the Yellow Jackets scored four runs on five hits and a sacrifice fly to take a 10-6 lead in the seventh. UTD made the game 10-8 in the bottom of the seventh with Zamora's third two-run single of the day.
UT Dallas Notes
- Skivington had two hits, three RBI and drew two walks to go along with his team-leading seventh home run.
- Zamora was 4-for-6 with six batted in on a trio of two-run singles on the day.
-
Brayshon Savage went 2-for-3 with a RBI in game one.Â
- Self and Hines each had a double in both games.
- Freshman
Kasey Klyng allowed one hit with two strikeouts in 2.1 scoreless innings in game two.
- Nairn and
Grayson Coltharp each scored twice in game two.
Howard Payne Notes
- Bryant Chambers (2-3) earned the win in game two, while Canon De Serf had the save.
- Tanner Benson was 3-for-5 with two runs, two RBI and a double in game two.
- Catcher Kayden Kelley recorded two hits in both games.
- Landon Prestage was 2-for-5 with two RBI in the second game.
Up Next
UT Dallas will travel to Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas for a three-game conference series beginning Friday, April 14.
Â
