TYLER, TEXAS – Kyle McShaffry hit a three-run homer to right field to walk it off for #24 UT Tyler in a 6-3 victory over Cameron on Friday night at Irwin Field.
McShaffry ended the night with a shot to right field deep into the East Texas night to open up a three-game series for UT Tyler with a win on Friday night in what was a much-needed effort for the club after consecutive losses entering the ball game. The entire Patriot roster responded with a clean game that saw UT Tyler answer two runs in the first inning from the Aggies to come out ahead in the end thanks to the McShaffry walk-off homer.
Johnnie Krawietz settled in after conceding those two runs in the first with nine strikeouts over his 6.1 innings on the mound.
Riley Jepson and
Jordan Gochenour both had a pair of hits as the Patriots finished the night eight total hits.
The Patriot bullpen allowed just two Aggie hits in their 2.2 innings of work as
Matthew McMillan picked up his second win of 2021 after working through the top of the ninth for UT Tyler by allowing just a single baserunner.
Nathan Holmes kept Cameron off the board in the top of the seventh after coming on to relieve Krawietz, stranding a pair of runners on first and second before retiring the side in order in the eighth.
Gochenour led off a two-run bottom half of the fourth for UT Tyler with a double to left center to allow UT Tyler to finally answer the two runs for Cameron in their first trip to the plate.
Lukas Polanco and
Tanner Roach both walked in the next two at bats for the Patriots to load the bases with no outs.
The second wild pitch of the inning for Cameron scored the first Patriot run of the evening as Gochenour advanced home on the Cameron mistake.
Hayden Clearman drove in Polanco with a sacrifice fly after the first out was recorded in the inning following the wild pitch, tying the contest up at 2-2 after four.
Both clubs led off the sixth with solo homers, as Polanco hit one out over left center for his second home run in as many weekends for the Patriots.
The Patriot bullpen held that 3-3 tie into the bottom of the ninth in which
Kyler Bumstead got the first UT Tyler runner aboard with a leadoff hit by pitch with a pair of strikes to get the inning started. Clearman bunted over
Carson Cox, who pinch ran for Bumstead at first, forcing the Aggies to intentionally walk Jepson with two outs to set the stage for McShaffry.
McShaffry posted his first hit of the game after striking out in his previous three trips to the plate with the game-winning homer to snap the Patriot two-game skid and open the weekend with a win.
UT Tyler will look to use that momentum generated by the walk-off win in tomorrow's doubleheader against the Aggies scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
