FORT SMITH, Ark. -- Austin Schneider struck out 11 batters in UT Tyler's baseball road opener Saturday, lifting the Patriots to an 8-4 opening-game win in a Saturday doubleheader split against University of Arkansas-Fort Smith (UAFS). The Patriots lost the nightcap in 13 innings, 9-8.

Schneider allowed 2 runs on 3 hits in 5 innings, finishing with 11 strikeouts in a dominant performance before turning things over to Max Page, who delivered 4 more strikeouts in a 4-inning save. Lukas Polanco gave the Patriots an early lead with a three-run home run in the top of the first inning, finishing the game 3-for-4 to lead the Patriots offense in the opener.

UT Tyler jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first four innings of the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, but UAFS carved two runs out of the lead in the fourth, two more in the fifth, and tied the game with a three-run seventh. After two more scoreless frames, the game went to extra innings, where UT Tyler regained the lead, 8-7, on a Bowie Farris RBI double. UAFS won the game by scoring two runs on a pair of walks and three Patriot errors in the bottom of the 13th.

After the split, UT Tyler is now 4-1 on the season, while UAFS is also 4-1. The teams conclude the series with a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.

How It Happened (Game 1: UT Tyler 8, UAFS 4): Lukas Polanco hit a three-run home run to left field with two outs in the top of the first, giving UT Tyler its first home run of the season while delivering an early three-run lead to starting pitcher Austin Schneider. The Patriots added two more in the top of the third on RBI singles from Kyle McShaffry and Cody Windisch to take a 5-0 lead.

The only runs surrendered by Schneider came in the bottom of the third on a two-run Dylan Hurt home run, but UT Tyler got both of those runs back in the fifth inning. Tanner Roach hit a sacrifice fly to score Windisch, and Corbin Geisendorff later scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 7-2. Schneider recorded his 11th strikeout in the bottom of the fifth inning, and he faced two batters in the sixth inning who reached base on a hit by pitch and single.

That brought Max Page out of the bullpen to take over for Schneider, and Page retired six straight including a double-play groundball to the first batter he faced. Geisendorff extended the lead to 8-2 in the top of the sixth with a 1-out RBI single, and UAFS cut the lead the 8-4 with a pair of run-scoring singles in the bottom of the eighth. However, Page got out of the eighth with one of his four strikeouts, and he got a game-ending double play after surrendering a pair of one-out singles in the ninth.

All nine UT Tyler hitters collected a hit in the opener, with Lukas Polanco going 3-for-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs to lead the way while Jordan Gochenour, Kyle McShaffry, and Corbin Geisendorff all finished with two hits each. Schneider picked up the win, his first of the season, and Page was credited with his first save of the year.

How It Happened (Game 2, 13 innings: UAFS 9, UT Tyler 8): UT Tyler jumped out to a 7-0 lead, thanks to a five-run third inning sandwiched between single runs in the second and fourth innings. Kyle McShaffry opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second, and Riley Jepson and Jordan Gochenour hit RBI singles before McShaffry cleared the bases with a three-run triple in the top of the third inning. Bowie Farris added a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning to push the lead to 7-0.

Starting pitcher Reagan MacDonald recorded six strikeouts, but he surrendered two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to leave the game after 4.1 innings. Jacob Blatney escaped any further damage in the fifth, and he turned in a scoreless sixth before allowing three runs on four hits in the bottom of the seventh which tied the game at 7-7.

Josh Garza got the final out of the seventh, and reliever Matthew McMillan struck out 11 batters in five consecutive shutout frames until UAFS drew two walks and took advantage of three UT Tyler errors in the 13th inning for the tying and winnings runs.

Eight of the nine Patriot starters in the batting lineup recorded at least one hit, and the only player without a hit drew two walks to reach base twice. Kyle McShaffry led the way, going 4-for-5 with 4 RBIs, while Riley Jepson and Bowie Farris tallied three hits each.

Inside The Box Score: Jordan Gochenour notched his third straight multi-hit game with a pair of hits in Saturday's series opener… On the day, Patriot pitchers combined for 38 strikeouts, led by 11-strikeout performances from Austin Schneider (Game 1 starter) and Matthew McMillan (Game 2 reliever)… The entire 50-game schedule for all Lone Star Conference baseball programs consists of 11 four-game series plus a pair of three-game series to start the year… All 50 games on the schedule are 2020 Lone Star Conference contests.

What's Next: UT Tyler concludes the three-game Lone Star Conference series at UAFS on Sunday at 1 p.m., in a game to decide the series winner. The Patriots are scheduled to return home next weekend for a four-game series against Eastern New Mexico as the Lone Star Conference schedule shifts to four-game series for the remainder of the season.