HOUSTON - The UT Dallas softball team started the 2025 season with a double-header split with St. Thomas (Texas) at WUSA South Saturday afternoon.
The Comets (1-1), playing in their first games under head coach
Casey Dickson, won the opener 3-1 with a seventh-inning rally, before falling 2-3 in the nightcap.
Game 1
The Celts (1-3) got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when catcher Chloe Bennett led off with a walk and scored after an error on Addison Bean's base hit.
Down in the seventh 1-0, senior second baseman
Mikayla Hoffman led off with an infield single and stole second. Center fielder
Cole Johnson followed with a walk. With one out, junior third baseman
Addison Caddell tied the game by knocking in Hoffman with a base hit to center.
Gracelyn Taylor drew a pinch hit walk and freshman shortstop
Sarah Olenick hit a two-run single center to give the Comets a 3-1 advantage.
Freshman reliever
Madelyn Denn secured the victory with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh.
Both teams recorded three hits, with the Comets drawing three walks.
Denn earned the victory with three strikeouts over three scoreless innings. Allison Hughes struck out nine batters but allowed three runs in the losing effort.
Game 2
Olenick started the second game off with a walk, was bunted to second by Hoffman and scored on an error to give UTD an early 1-0 lead. UST tied it right up in the bottom of the frame with a lead-off walk issued to Rebecca Archibald, a sacrifice bunt and an error.
The contest remained 1-1 until the bottom of the sixth when the Celts' Lindsey Gonzalez doubled in Maegan Anderson and Bennett driving in Genesis Mares with a ground ball.
The Comets threatened again in the seventh thanks to a lead-off double from Hoffman and an infield single for Johnson. Sophomore first baseman singled to right field, plating Hoffman to make the game 3-2. UST pitcher Victoria Sossaman got out of the jam with three straight outs to end the game.
UT Dallas outhit St. Thomas 4-2, but the Celts drew five walks with just one for the Comets.
UT Dallas Notes
- Hoffman finished the day hitting .400 (2-for-5) with a pair of runs, a sac bunt and a stolen base. The double was the 12th of her career.
- Caddell went 2-for-6 with a RBI.
- Olenick recorded the game-winning two-RBI single and walked twice.
- Sophomore
Blair Collier stole a base as a pinch runner.
- Sophomore Allison Kotch started game one and allowed three hits, an unearned run and two walks with a strikeout over four innings.
- Freshman
Brooke Bouldin started and went five innings in the second game, allowing an unearned run and four walks with a K.
- Denn allowed just one batter to reach out of 13 and threw four scoreless frames.
St. Thomas Notes
- Archibald recorded a base hit, a run and three walks on the day.
- Bennett finished with a walk, a run scored and a RBI.
- Sossaman (1-1) went the distance in game two, allowing four hits, one earned run a walk and three strikeouts in the victory.
Up Next
The Comets will play their home opener on Tuesday against Dallas Christian in a double-header beginning at 2 p.m.
Â
