March 2, 2007

RICHARDSON, Texas - UT-Dallas jumped out to a 15-1 lead after five innings and never looked back in a 16-4 win over Hardin-Simmons, Friday evening in the opener of a three-game American Southwest Conference crossover baseball series at Comet Field.

The 21 hits by UTD was a season-high for the Comets, and a season-high for the Cowboys in hits allowed for the 2007 season.

Six different Comets held multi-hit clips on the afternoon, including five with three hits or more.

UT-Dallas (7-3) fell behind early when HSU senior center fielder Michael Simpson doubled in Taylor Gibbs, who had walked earlier in the inning.

However, in the bottom of the second, the Comets erupted with six runs on five hits. They also took advantage of two walks, a hit-by-pitch, and back-to-back wild pitches that let two more runners to score. All five hits were singles.

After the side was retired in the top of the third, UT-Dallas added another run after three consecutive singles, with the last by Nick Hand, that drove in designated hitter Jake Eisman with one out to increase the margin to 7-1 at the end of three innings.

After two hits in the top of the fourth and no runs off of it, the Comets exploded with a five-spot on the board, greeting C.J. Regala with five runs on five hits.

Centerfielder Mitch Elliot led off the inning with a solo blast. Matt Putman singled, and after two consecutive strikeouts, Jeremy Reagen singled and moved over to second on a throw to third. The next batter, Hand, singled to score two runs on a hit down the left field line. More trouble came for Regala, when Brett Rosen homered over the left field fence to push the lead to 12-1 after four innings.

Kyle Barton replaced Regala an inning later, but struggled after letting two men reach base and getting an out to start the inning. After Elliot reached second on an error, he moved over to third on another error, this time on the catcher. Nick Bird and Eisman both doubled in back-to-back at-bats that accounted for three more runs, all earned. At the end of five, the score stood at 15-1.

Elliot was a force at the plate for UTD, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored, a walk, and an RBI. He also reached base all six times at bat.

The Cowboys reduced their deficit in the top of the sixth, as three runners crossed the plate on five hits, as Hardin-Simmons came within a home run short of the cycle in the inning. The bats started with Ryan Stepp's one-out triple. Danny Ruth followed it up with an RBI double, and Colby Day added a pinch-hit single to put runners on the corners. Catcher Blake Koch then scored Ruth with a single, and Zach Stephens recorded the Cowboys' second pinch-hit single of the inning, which allowed Day to score from third base, which made it a 15-4 game.

The final run of the game came in the UTD eighth inning when Trent Elizondo hit a solo home run to make the score 16-4.

Seven different arms threw on the hill for Hardin-Simmons, with starter Lance Johnson throwing the most of everyone with 1 2/3 innings, yielding five hits, six earned runs, a strikeout and walk, and two wild pitches. Tim Kriegel and Brian Arnold were the only two Cowboys to have scoreless appearances, both tossing one stanza. HSU fell to 6-4 on the year.

Starter Mark Cox pitched seven solid innings, striking out 12 and scattering nine hits. Putman took advantage of the sixteen strikeouts by the UT-Dallas pitching staff to record 16 putouts.

The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday.