BULLARD, Texas -- Austin Schneider was virtually flawless in Friday night's series opener against Eastern New Mexico, tossing six shutout innings with 14 strikeouts to lead UT Tyler to a 9-6 win over the Greyhounds.
Schneider allowed just three baserunners in his six innings, and the only hit he allowed was a perfect bunt single down the third base line. The first eight outs the senior righthander registered were all on strikeouts, and he struck out at least two in each of his six frames. His 14 strikeouts tied him for the second-highest single-game total in program history and one away from tying the school record of 15 strikeouts set in 2008 by Brett Holland.
Max Page put a halt to Eastern New Mexico's six-run seventh-inning rally, finishing the game with 2.1 shutout innings of work to earn his second save of the season. Offensively, the top half of the lineup produced 12 of UT Tyler's 13 hits and all 9 RBIs; Tanner Roach, Riley Jepson, and Bowie Farris registered three hits each, and Jordan Gochenour hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot which capped a three-run first inning for the Patriots.
With the victory, UT Tyler improved to 6-1 on the season while Eastern New Mexico fell to 1-6.
How It Happened: Austin Schneider struck out the first three batters he faced on 12 pitches, sending the top three hitters in the Greyhounds lineup back to the dugout on swinging strikeouts. In the second inning, after he put the leadoff man on base with a hit by pitch, Schneider notched three more strikeouts, and he registered the first two outs of the third inning by strikeout, as well, before Daniel Hunt popped out to second to end the inning.
The only hit Schneider allowed was a third-inning bunt single, and he responded by retiring eight in a row after the hit. Jude Perea drew a leadoff walk in the sixth inning, but Schneider finished off his strong performance by retiring the next three hitters including back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
The Patriot offense produced 9 runs in the first 5 innings, spotting Schneider a 9-0 lead. Tanner Roach sparked a three-run first inning for UT Tyler with a leadoff single and steal, and Jordan Gochenour hit a two-run home run to right field to give the Patriots a 3-0 lead. Riley Jepson's RBI single in the second extended the lead to 4-0, and Lukas Polanco capped a four-run fourth inning with a two-run double on the first pitch he saw from Greyhounds reliever Colson Faircloth to give the Patriots an 8-0 lead.
Jepson produced another RBI single in the fifth inning, extending the lead to 9-0 with his second RBI single of the contest. Eastern New Mexico pushed six runs across in the seventh inning after Schneider departed, starting with a three-run home run from Trevor Moses after consecutive walks to lead off the seventh. Daniel Hunt hit a two-run single with two outs in the seventh, and a wild pitch allowed another to score and cut the margin to 9-6. That brought Max Page out of the bullpen to inherit a 2-0 count to James Romero, and Page ended the frame with three pitches for a swinging strikeout.
Page retired the first six batters he faced before a two-out single in the top of the ninth, but he got the next batter to ground out back to the mound to end the game.
Inside The Box Score: Tanner Roach, Riley Jepson, and Bowie Farris each collected three hits to lead the Patriots from the top three spots in the lineup, and Jordan Gochenour went 2-for-4 out of the cleanup spot… Gochenour's first-inning home run was his first of the season, extending his team-high season RBI total to 13… His first-inning shot to right field was UT Tyler's first home run at home this season… Due to heavy rain in Tyler throughout the week, the series is being played in nearby Bullard, Texas, at the Brook Hill Ballpark… As a pitching staff, UT Tyler notched 18 strikeouts while issuing just 4 walks and allowing 5 hits… Austin Schneider's 14-strikeout total matched the second-highest single-game strikeout mark in program history, set on Feb. 15, 2008, by Brett Holland (who also owns the program-record 15, which he set a couple months later in April during the 2008 season)… The Patriots have now scored in the first inning in five of their seven games this year.
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.
