AUSTIN, Texas -- For the second straight game, UT Tyler put together a late scoring rally to take the lead before holding off St. Edward's down the stretch as the Patriots posted a 13-12 win Saturday afternoon to clinch the series win and a chance for a series sweep Sunday.
 
Ethan Bedgood delivered the big hit Saturday in the 8th inning, hitting a 1-out grand slam to give UT Tyler a 10-7 lead, its first lead since the second inning. The Patriots added 3 runs in the ninth on Riley Jepson's 2-run, 2-out single and a bases-loaded walk to Jordan Gochenour, and UT Tyler needed each of those valuable insurance runs as St. Edward's answered Bedgood's 8th-inning blast with 2 runs in the eighth and 3 more in the ninth.
 
Bedgood finished 2-for-4 with 5 RBIs, and Edward Ortiz and Hayden Clearman collected three hits each to lead a UT Tyler offense which produced season-highs of 13 runs and 16 hits.
 
Nathan Holmes picked up the win in relief, tossing 2.2 innings while surrendering 2 hits, 2 unearned runs, and 2 walks with a pair of strikeouts, and Keith Long relieved Matthew McMillan in the bottom of the ninth for the one-out save.
 
With the win, UT Tyler extended its winning streak to five games as the Patriots improved to 6-2 on the year. St. Edward's falls to 3-2.
 
How It Happened: UT Tyler took an early 2-0 lead on a Kyle McShaffry 2-run home run in the second inning, but St. Edward's responded with 4 runs in the bottom of the second. Ethan Bedgood cut the lead to 4-3 with a third-inning RBI single, and the Hilltoppers answered again with a pair of run-scoring doubles in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 6-3.
 
Both teams went scoreless again until the sixth inning when the offenses heated up again. Hayden Clearman hit a 2-run home run in the top of the sixth, trimming the margin to 6-5, and a single St. Edward's run in the sixth was answered by a Jordan Gochenour RBI single in the seventh to keep the Patriots within a run at 7-6.
 
In the top of the eighth, Clearman led off with a double, and Kyle Hawkins was hit by pitch. After they advanced on a wild pitch to open up first base, St. Edward's intentionally walked Riley Jepson, who drove in 6 runs in Friday's series opener. That brought Bedgood to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, and he delivered the game-changing blow with a grand slam to left-center.
 
A UT Tyler error in the bottom of the eighth led to a pair of unearned runs that cut the Patriots' lead to 10-9, but Clearman sparked a crucial two-out rally in the top of the ninth with his third hit of the game, a single to center field. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Jepson, who singled to center to score 2 runs, and Bedgood and Jordan Gochenour drew consecutive walks to force in a run and extend the lead to 13-9. In the bottom of the ninth, St. Edward's used a leadoff walk and a one-out error to chip away at the lead with a sacrifice fly in between run-scoring singles to cut the lead to 13-12 with two outs in the ninth. Keith Long entered the game with the potential tying run on base, and he issued a walk before striking out pinch-hitter Kyler Kerlin to end the game.
 
By The Numbers: Through the first 2 games of the 3-game series, the teams have combined for 46 runs and 54 hits… Six UT Tyler hitters registered multiple hits, including 3-hit performances from Edward Ortiz and Hayden Clearman…. St. Edward's drew 11 walks from Patriot pitchers… UT Tyler has won the second game of all three Lone Star Conference series so far this season.
 
Up Next: UT Tyler and St. Edward's wrap up the three-game Lone Star Conference series on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 1 p.m.