TYLER, TEXAS - #24 UT Tyler run ruled Cameron in both games in Saturday's Lone Star Conference doubleheader with 12-2 and 13-1 wins to complete the series sweep at Irwin Field.
 
The Patriots (13-6, 13-5 LSC) outscored the Aggies (3-13, 3-9 LSC) 25-to-3 in the two games combined and once again answered the call as Cameron plated a run in the top half of the first inning in each contest. The UT Tyler pitching staff responded by allowing just a single earned run throughout the rest of the 12.0 innings of work between the two games and enjoyed the benefits of a Patriot offense that scored 25 times and hit .397 as a lineup for the day.
 
Kyle Bumstead went 5-for-6 on the day and drew five walks and a hit by pitch to reach base 11 times in his 12 trips to the plate on the afternoon. He alongside Tanner Roach, who went 4-for-9 on the afternoon, led the Patriots with four RBI on the day.
 
Bumstead hit one of three homers in the 12-2 game one victory to get the day started for the Patriots, joining Kyle McShaffry and Lukas Polanco in the home run category. Polanco and McShaffry both homered in each of the first two games of the series and served as two of the three Patriots to record three RBI on Saturday.
 
Those three homers for the trio broke open a slow start for UT Tyler in game one that saw Cameron build a 2-0 lead after four innings of play before the Patriots struck for all 12 of their runs in the last three frames of game number one. Seven of those 12 runs came in the bottom half of the fifth as Roach and Polanco both hit two-RBI doubles in the frame to push the Patriots ahead 7-2 after five complete innings.
 
McShaffry got the run of homers started in the ensuing sixth inning frame with a two-RBI shot to rightfield that scored himself and Riley Jepson to extend the lead to 9-2. Polanco led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a solo shot to left, followed up by a second-straight solo homer from Bumstead and an RBI double down the leftfield line by Roach that ended the first game after seven.
 
Keith Long was credited with his first win of the 2021 campaign in game one after taking over for starter Jacob Blatney in the fourth. Long struck out six in his three innings of work, allowing just a single earned run along the way. Nolan Cox retired all three of the batters that he faced in the top of the seventh.
 
Nick Niebur took the mound for the start in game number two and picked up right where Long and Cox left off in game one, responding to an opening run in the top of the first by Cameron by retiring 12 of the next 13 batters that he faced. His strong finish to the start earned Niebur the win for his five-innings of effort, striking out nine Cameron batters along the way.
 
UT Tyler scored runs in five of their six trips to the plate in the 13-1 win in game number two, as every single starter for the Patriots tallied at least one hit for the game. Roach and Ethan Bedgood both tallied two hits for the game while the Patriot lineup drew a season high 10 walks in the victory.
The Patriot pitching staff struck out 20 Cameron batters in their 14.0 innings thrown on Saturday, allowing just three earned runs while conceding 10 hits.
 
UT Tyler will take the momentum of the weekend sweep over the Aggies into a midweek single game on the road against Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. The Patriots moved back up into third place in the Lone Star Conference standings with a record of 13-5, and have totaled the second most wins in conference play behind only West Texas A&M.
 
The next Lone Star Conference series for the Patriots will take place on Mar. 26-28 on the road in Odessa, Texas against UT Permian Basin.