TYLER, TEXAS – A walk-off RBI single from Riley Lambert in the bottom of the ninth inning evened the weekend series up with #3 Angelo State for the #11 UT Tyler baseball team at one game apiece on Saturday night on Irwin Field.
 
The 2-1 win over the Rams will set the stage for the rubber match tomorrow afternoon between the no. 1 and no. 2 selected teams in the 2021 Lone Star Conference Baseball Preseason Poll. The victory served as a hard-fought response for a Patriot club that dropped their opening night match-up with the Rams on Friday night, and showcased two of the top Division II program's in the country at their best.
 
Both teams had their chances to cash in runs throughout the evening, but a stellar outing from starter Jacob Blatney, combined with a shutout effort from the Patriot bullpen, insured a chance at a series victory tomorrow afternoon against Angelo State. Blatney went 5.2 innings, striking out nine Rams along the way, and worked his way around three runners in scoring position in his first five innings of work to allow just a single run in the sixth.
 
Keith Long took over for Blatney in the sixth inning and worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam with two outs, forcing a fly out to rightfield to keep the game tied up at 1-1. Lambert's heroics made that key sixth inning count by scoring pinch runner Alex Bruce from second on his RBI walk-off single.
 
The series finale is set for tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. on Irwin Field.
 
How it Happened: Riley Jepson got the scoring started for the Patriots in the bottom half of the first with a solo homerun to left center, making for the second night in a row that the Patriots got on the board first in the bottom half of the opening frame. Blatney went to work with that 1-0 advantage through the second inning and survived runners on second and third in the top of the third, grounding out the Ram's Nick Novak, to keep the 1-0 lead intact.
 
Blatney and Rams starter Benjamin Elder squared off in a pitcher's duel though the fourth and fifth innings without any serious trouble before Angelo State plated the tying run on an RBI bunted single by Riley Peterson in the top half of the sixth inning. UT Tyler threatened to immediately regain the one-run advantage in the bottom of the seventh after a one-out single by Cade Watson, followed up by a walk by Hayden Clearman, putting two runners on with one out for the Patriots.
 
Watson and Clearman advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, but two straight outs by the Ram's reliever Matt Szabo, who came on in relief of Elder after the Clearman walk, stranded the pair of Patriots baserunners . A.J. Irvin retired the Rams in order in the top of the eighth before closer Matthew McMillan stepped to the mound with the game still knotted up at 1-1 heading into the ninth inning.
 
A double play cleared the base paths for McMillan after a leadoff single by Angelo State's Josh Elvir, but a two-out single by Nick Novak, followed up by a stolen base and an ensuing throwing error on the Patriots catcher quickly moved Novak around to third.
 
Peterson once again attempted a bunt for the Rams with the runner on third and two outs, the same play that scored the Rams lone run of the night back in the sixth, but McMillan cleanly fielded the play and ended the scoring threat.
 
Consecutive one-out singles from Kyle McShaffry and Watson set the stage for Bruce to come into pinch run for McShaffry on second, eventually scoring on the walk-off single by Lambert with two outs one batter later.
 
Lambert came into the ballgame just an inning earlier in left field and rose to the occasion with his two-out single to lift the Patriots to their first win of 2021.
 
A Look at the Numbers: The two clubs stranded a combined 19 runners on base in the contest as each team totaled nine hits on the night… Angelo State finished the game with 14 runners left on base… Jepson, McShaffry and Watson all had two hits apiece while Jepson and Lambert each finished with an RBI… UT Tyler struck out 12 batters… UT Tyler struck out nine times… Jordan Gochenour, Clearman and Lambert each had one hit for the Patriots… The bullpen effort from Long, Irvin and McMillan allowed just two hits in a combined 3.1 innings pitched and struck out three batters… Neither team committed a fielding error in the contest as the lone error charged to the Patriots was a throwing error.
 
Up Next: Angelo State and UT Tyler will meet for the third and final meeting between the two teams on the weekend tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.