DATES: Feb. 5-7
TIME: Feb. 5 – 7 p.m. | Feb. 6 – 6 p.m. | Feb. 7 - 1 p.m.
OPPONENT: #3 Angelo State
LOCATION: Tyler, Texas | Irwin Field at UT Tyler Ballpark
PATRIOT'S 2020 RECORD: 20-3 (20-3 LSC)
RAM'S 2020 RECORD: 19-3 (19-3 LSC)
LIVE STATS LINK: https://uttylerpatriots.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
LIVE VIDEO LINK: https://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/utt/
 
TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler baseball program will get the 2021 season started with a top-25 matchup against #3 Angelo State at home this weekend.
 
The Patriots and Rams are set for a three-game series beginning Friday night at 7 p.m., followed by another night game on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. and the series finale on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Angelo State and UT Tyler enter the 2021 campaign ranked first and second, respectively, in the 2021 Preseason Lone Star Conference Polls, and will meet for the first time in both program's storied history.
 
Spectators will be allowed at Irwin Field, but fans will be required to wear a mask and socially distant while attending the weekend's games. Tickets will be sold at the ticket gate located at the entrance of UT Tyler Ballpark.
 
PRESEASON RANKINGS GALORE
 
UT Tyler did enough to raise national eyebrows last spring in their inaugural season competing in the Lone Star Conference, and were ranked no. 11 by the Collegiate Baseball Division II Preseason Poll. The Patriots were also recently ranked no. 10 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association Preseason Poll.
 
Head coach Brent Porche's club finished the 2020 spring schedule, prior to the cancellation of the remainder of the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, atop the Lone Star Conference standings with a record of 20-3. The Patriots had yet to meet Angelo State prior to the cancellation of the season, but were selected to finish second in the Preseason LSC Poll behind Angelo State, receiving six first-place votes, as opposed to Angelo State's 23.
 
Angelo State was selected no. 10 in the Collegiate Baseball Division II Preseason Poll and no. 1 in the NCBWA Preseason Poll.
 
SERIES HISTORY
 
This weekend's opening series will pit two of Texas' best small-school baseball programs against each other for the first time. UT Tyler and Angelo State have never met on the diamond prior to this weekend.
 
A STORIED HISTORY
 
UT Tyler baseball will begin 2021 537-199 (.730) all-time since the program's first season in 2004. The Patriots were six-time American Southwest Conference Champions and capped off their reign as national contenders at the Division III level with a Division III National Championship in 2018. Coach Porche was named the ABCA/Diamond National Coach of the Year following that championship season, and will enter 2021 with a career record of 122-45 going into his fourth year as the head coach of the program.
 
The Patriots enter the final season of the program's transition into full-fledged Division II status, and will compete this spring for a chance at the program's first championship as a Division II member.
 
AT THE PLATE
 
UT Tyler will return eight of their nine regular starting position players from last year's 2020 season, including the team's returning batting average leaders in Riley Jepson (.383 BA) and Tanner Roach (.373). Roach has already broken the UT Tyler school record for career stolen bases with 49 and counting entering 2021, while Jepson ranked seventh in the Lone Star Conference in 2020 in batting average.
 
Jordan Gochenour (.354) and Kyle McShaffry (.333) will also return to the line-up in 2021 after posting batting averages north of .300 in 2020. Newcomers Edward Ortiz and Hayden Clearman both figure to see time in the line-up as well, as both were cornerstone pieces of a talented recruiting class this offseason for the Patriots.
 
ON THE MOUND
 
A pitching staff that led all of Division II baseball in strikeouts in 2020 (260) will return mostly intact, led by projected Friday night starter Austin Schneider, who ranked 18^th in Division II last season in strikeouts per nine innings (14.54). Schneider will presumably be followed by Jacob Blatney and Garrett Arredondo in the starting rotation for Saturday and Sunday's games.
 
Arredondo was dynamic in his five starts last season, posting a 4-0 record and an ERA of just 1.16 as a freshman. Blatney was also effective for the Patriots, producing an identical 4-0 record and a 3.04 ERA in his four starts.
 
A deep and talented bullpen will be spearheaded by the combination of Keith Long and Reagan MacDonald, who served as the team's fourth primary starter last season and will presumably start 2021 in the bullpen, as well as closer Matthew McMillan. McMillan struck out 26 batters in 16.2 innings of work from his closer role last season and recorded seven of the team's nine saves on the year.
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS
 
Angelo State will have a legitimate argument to match the Patriot's talent on paper, headlined by Josh Elvir and Trent Baker, who were named the Preseason Player of the Year and Pitcher of the year, respectively, by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media personnel. Elvir led the LSC with a batting average of .438 last season and Baker limited opponents to a batting average of just .188 in 2020.
 
Head coach Kevin Brooks is 591-301 in his 16^th season leading the Rams and has never had a losing season as head coach at Angelo State.