AUBURNDALE, FL – UT Dallas scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning to defeat #5 Rowan, 7-6, in the RussMatt Invitational, ruining the Profs' comeback from five-run deficit.
 
Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Chris Curcio started off the inning with a pinch-hit double and scored the tying run on a double by Tyler Cannon, to send the game into extra innings, 5-5.
 
UT Dallas started off the 10th with a lead-off walk by Brayshon Savage and double by Robert Hines. Both runners were brought home on a single from Grayson Coltharp.
 
The Comets struck first in the opening inning with one run on an RBI double by Dylan Bivins. UT Dallas added two more in the second on a double and two Prof errors and increased it to 5-0 in the fifth, taking advantage of two more Prof errors.
 
Rowan started its comeback in the bottom of the fifth when Cannon stroked a two-run double that brought home Jason Morgan and Phil Sedalis. Ryan Murphy grounded out but Brian Gallante was able to score, cutting the Profs' deficit to 5-3.
 
The Profs added another in the eighth on a ground out by Morgan, which scored Marco Mannino, who had reached base on a walk.
 
A lead-off walk by Savage and double by Hines started off the 10th for UT Dallas, as both were brought home on a single from Coltharp.
 
Offensively, Cannon led the Profs, going 2-for-5 and driving in three runs while Morgan was 2-for-5, with two runs and an RBI.
 
Jason O'Neill went eighth innings in the start and struck out one. Ryan Iovine entered in relief in the ninth and struck out two but took the loss. Rowan will next play Benedictine on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Northeast Regional Park in Davenport, FL.