FRISCO, Texas – Runs were hard to come by for Whitman College's baseball team Friday afternoon as they opened the season with a 5-0 non-conference loss to the University of Texas at Dallas in the Frisco Tournament at Dr. Pepper Ballpark.

The Missionaries (0-1) were limited to three hits but put three more runners on base via walks and a hit by pitch. Unfortunately the Comets' pitcher, Tyler Dauer, had a strong day on the mound for UTD (1-4), fanning 12 while allowing a pair of walks and the one hit batter.

Jimmy Norris' double to left field off Whitman starter Jack Coppinger opened the game and the hit proved costly for the M's as Norris eventually came around to score on a one-single down the left-field line.

Whitman had base runners in the second and fourth innings but weren't able to push anyone past second base. Back-to-back singles by Paul Heywood and Joseph Zimmer in the fourth proved to be Whitman's best chance of the day but Dauer induced a two-out pop-up to first base to extinguish the threat.

The Comets added to their lead with two runs in the fifth and one more off Coppinger in the sixth before he gave way to reliever John Lyon to start the seventh. Lyon surrendered an unearned run in the inning for UTD's final run.

Whitman's Anthony Lim worked his second walk of the day to lead off the bottom of the eighth but he was erased on an inning-ending double play in the Missionaries' final threat.

Coppinger (0-1) finished his day after six innings and four runs on six hits and a pair of walks. He fanned five including inning-ending strike-outs in the third and fifth.

Next up for Whitman is a doubleheader at the University of Dallas. Game 1 is scheduled for a 10 a.m. PT start.,