BROWNWOOD, TX (02.27.21) - With a 10-4 road win in the first game of a Saturday American Southwest Conference doubleheader against Howard Payne, the UT Dallas Comets presented head coach Shane Shewmake with his 500th career victory.

Shemake, now in his 20th season at the helm of the UTD program he initiated back in 2002, improved to 500-303 all time with the victory. Shewmake's teams have had 19 consecutive winning seasons coming into the 2021 season, and won an ASC Championship in 2018.

The Comets (2-1) dropped the nightcap of the doublheader, 4-3, on a 9th-inning walkoff triple.

UTD is scheduled to be back in action Tuesday at 6 pm in a non-conference matchup with Southwestern in Georgetown.

DH GAME 1: UTD 10, HPU 4

The Comets rallied from an early deficit with four consecutive multi-run innings to take Game 1 of the doubleheader, 10-4. Sophomore pitchers Ryan Vera (1-0) and Orion Drymond limited the winless Yellow Jackets to just 5 hits over the seven-inning opener while the UTD offense pounded out 11 hits and got home runs from A.J. Liu and Ramon Garza to pull away in the middle innings of the seven-inning game.

The Comets overcame three errors which led to three unearned HPU runs, including a pair that scored in the first inning off a throwing error by Vera. But UTD was able to tie the game up in the 3rd, then build on the lead throughout the 4th, 5th and 6th innings as both Liu and Garza went deep. Drymond took over on the mound after a four-inning Vera start and surrendered just a 7th-inning home run for a three-inning save, his first of the season.

Down 2-0 after two innings, a Liu double and two walks loaded the bases for the Comets. First baseman Hunter Cheek drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Liu; then DH Zac Vorst scored on a Deylan Moreno fielder's choice to tie the game in the 3rd. In the 4th, Ramon Garza drew a walk ahead of Liu's homerun down the left field line to give the Comets a 4-2 advantage. HPU looked to be answering in its half of the 4th after a Comet error and a wild pitch run, but UTD got out of the jam with a double play, tagging out the lead HPU runner between third base and home for the final out of the inning.

Two walks in the 5th put Garza in position to stretch the Comet lead to 7-3 with his first homer of the season. In the 6th, the Comets added three more runs after an fielding error on on the HPU center fielder opened the door for Vorst scoring on a Moreno single, and then a two-RBI single from Nick Bally.

Vorst was 3-for-3 in the game and Liu went 2-for-4 as all but one member of the Comets lineup collected at least one hit.

DH GAME 2: HPU 4, UTD 3

In complete contrast to the offensive fireworks of the first two games of the series, stellar pitching performances on both sides of the field resulted in a dramatic 4-3 walkoff  win for the Yellow Jackets in the series finale.

After building up a 3-1 lead going into HPU's last at-bat, the Comets saw their chances for a sweep evaporate when the Yellow Jackets came up with a clutch, two-out, bases-clearing triple to salvage the final game of the series. A pair of singles and a mishandled sacrifice bunt to start the inning loaded the bases. Holidng a 3-1 lead, the Comets were able to get the first two outs of the Jackets' 9th inning on a force at the plate and a strikeout from reliever Brett Bihm. But HPU's Trevor Fletcher took a 3-2 pitch from Bihm to the gap in left-centerfield to clear the bases and complete the rally.

Again, the Comets were victimized by errors, as only one of the Jackets' runs were earned.

UTD struck first in a 0-0 stalemate in the 4th inning. Vorst doubled, then came home on a Hunter Cheek single to give the Comets a 1-0 lead. HPU tied the score at 1-1 in the 7th, but missed out on a great chance to take the lead. A heads-up play by UTD catcher Moreno picked the leader runner off third and HPU settled for the tie entering the final frame.

The Comets then took the lead in the 8th when Garza raced home on a two-out wild pitch. UTD made it 3-1 in the 9th when Moreno tagged up and scampered home after a foul fly was caught down the right field line. 

UTD used five pitchers, all of whom were effective. Jarrett Johnson only pitched 1.1 innings, but was tagged with the loss as he was responsible for the go-ahed baserunner. Earlier in the game, Kenny Garza went 3.2 innings in relief, striking out five while giving up just one unearned run.