TYLER, TEXAS - #11 UT Tyler came back from a 2-0 deficit after the first two frames to defeat #17 West Texas A&M , 3-2, in the first of a three-game series between the two clubs on Friday night at Irwin Field.
 
Cade Watson drove home what would stand as the winning run for the Patriots in a bottom of the eighth inning that saw UT Tyler load the bases three times to come back from two unanswered runs from #17 West Texas A&M in the first and second. A.J. Irvin was credited with the win after coming on in the seventh and holding the score at 2-1 prior to the eighth-inning rally for the Patriots.
 
Starter Austin Schneider settled in after giving up a pair of runs in the first two innings, going 6.0 innings strong while striking out five. He did just enough in the no-decision outing to give way to the setup-closer combination of Irvin and Matthew McMillan in order to get UT Tyler their seventh straight win of the year.
 
An offense that broke out in last weekend's sweep of St. Edward's was kept mostly in check until Watson notched his first of two RBI's in the bottom of the third with a groundout to shortstop that scored Jordan Gochenour. Gochenour and Edward Ortiz were bunted over to second and third with no outs in the inning to make way for Watson to get the ball in play and cut the 2-0 Buff advantage in half at 2-1.
 
That margin would hold into the eighth inning as Schneider retired five of the next six batters he faced before handing the ball off to Irvin in the seventh. Irvin retired all but one of the six batters he faced before a leadoff Riley Jepson double to left center kick-started the Patriot offense into gear in the bottom of the eighth.
 
Ethan Bedgood was hit by a pitch in the ensuing at bat to put runners on first and second with no outs for UT Tyler. A costly fielding mistake by the Buffs moved Jepson around to third to load the bases for the Patriots with still no outs in the inning. Kyle McShaffry scored Jepson from third two batters later on an RBI single to centerfield to tie the game up for the first time since the top half of the first for the Patriots.
 
Watson knocked in the go-ahead run with a single of his own to center that scored Alex Bruce, who came across as a pinch runner for Bedgood.
 
Two outs for UT Tyler with the bases loaded in the next two at bats proved to be irrelevant as McMillan picked up his third save on the year in the top of the ninth. He worked around a single and a hit batter in that final frame to give UT Tyler it's second win against a nationally-ranked opponent on the year.
 
Watson was the lone Patriot to record multiple hits in the game as UT Tyler totaled six hits for evening. Jepson found a way on base in all three of his trips to the plate with the aforementioned double and three walks.
 
UT Tyler and West Texas A&M will get back out on the field for game number two of the series tomorrow night at 6 p.m.