BULLARD, Texas -- Reagan MacDonald fired a seven-inning no-hitter in the opening game of UT Tyler's doubleheader against Eastern New Mexico to lead the Patriots to a 6-0, 3-1 sweep.
The senior lefthander faced just one batter over the minimum, striking out 10 in the 7-inning complete-game effort to produce UT Tyler's first no-hitter since Feb. 24, 2019, when Keith Long threw a 7-inning no-hitter against Mary Hardin Baylor.
Lukas Polanco hit a two-run home run in the second inning to open up the scoring in the 6-0 win, and Tanner Roach went 2-for-3 in the nightcap, delivering the go-ahead run in the fourth inning with an RBI single in the 3-1 victory. Kyle McShaffry added a solo home run in the fifth for his first home run of the season.
With Saturday's sweep along with Friday's win, UT Tyler clinched the series win and a chance to sweep the four-game Lone Star Conference series. The Patriots are now 8-1 while Eastern New Mexico dropped to 1-8.
How It Happened (Game 1): Reagan MacDonald struck out four batters in the first two innings, and a one-out walk in the second inning was erased with a pickoff throw from the catcher which caught the baserunner too far off the base. The Patriots pushed three runs across in the bottom of the second, starting with a two-run home run off the light pole beyond the fence in left-center. Later in the inning, Riley Jepson drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Patriots added two more in the fifth on a Kyle McShaffry double, and Jordan Gochenour added an RBI double in the sixth to complete the scoring.
MacDonald, meanwhile, retired all but one of the final 17 batters he faced, racking up 10 six more strikeouts to finish with 10 strikeouts and 2 walks in an efficient 84-pitch outing. With the no-hitter on the line in the seventh inning, MacDonald finished it off with a three-pitch strikeout.
How It Happened (Game 2): Freshman righthander Garrett Arredondo was on track for a similar impressive performance on the mound, striking out 6 of the first 7 Eastern New Mexico batters before the Greyhounds collected their first hit of the day with Tristan Bowden's one-out single to left in the third inning.
After Polanco drove in the first run of the game in the bottom of the third with an RBI single, Arredondo surrendered an unearned run in the fourth inning to tie the game at 1-1. Max Page replaced Arredondo with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the fourth, and he ended the threat with a fly out to shallow right field.
With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Corbin Geisendorff doubled down the right field line and scored on Tanner Roach's single into right-center to give UT Tyler a 2-1 lead. The Patriots added an insurance run an inning later on Kyle McShaffry's first home run of the season, a two-out solo shot to right field.
Page retired all three batters in the fifth before yielding the final two innings to Matthew McMillan, who struck out 4 in 2 innings of work to close out the victory. Page improved to 2-0 on the season while McMillan notched his second save.
Inside The Box Score: Bowie Farris hit safely in both games, running his season-opening hitting streak to 9 games while Jordan Gochenour has an 8-game hitting streak… In the first three games of the weekend series, UT Tyler pitchers have registered 39 strikeouts against just 7 walks in 23 innings… The Patriots have scored first in 8 of their 9 games this year, going 7-1 in games when they score first.
What's Next: UT Tyler continues the four-game series with Eastern New Mexico with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m., followed by the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. The entire series will be played at Brook Hill Ballpark in Bullard.
Quotable: Head Coach Brent Porche, Reagan MacDonald, Pitching Coach Ryan Vruggink, Max Page
