TYLER, TEXAS – A seven-run bottom of the fifth inning proved to be the difference maker as #24 UT Tyler opened up a three-game set with Texas A&M-Kingsville with an 8-3 win on Thursday night at Irwin Field.
Nolan Cox got the nod for the game one start and tossed five full innings to pick up the win as UT Tyler (17-7, 16-6 LSC) plated seven runs in the bottom half of the fifth.
Reagan MacDonald struck out a pair in the sixth before
Nathan Holmes came on for the final three innings and allowed just two hits to pick up the three-inning save, the first of his career.
13 batters stepped to the plate in that fifth inning for the Patriots as
Riley Jepson tied up the ball game with a two-RBI single that scored
Edward Ortiz and
Hayden Clearman to run the score to 3-3 after the Javelinas plated three runs against Cox to jump out to a 3-0 advantage.
Jepson's single came amongst four straight singles for the Patriots in the inning as
Cade Watson, Jepson,
Jordan Gochenour and
Kyle McShaffry did the majority of the damage in the inning for UT Tyler. The Gochenour single in the ensuing at-bat following the Jepson hit that tied the game gave UT Tyler the lead, scoring Jepson and Watson to move the score to 5-3 in favor of the Patriots.
Tommy Tolve, who led off the inning with the first of three free bases for the Patriots and then scored on the Watson single, kept the rally going with a sacrifice fly to centerfield that cashed in Gochenour.
Edward Ortiz was credited with an RBI after being hit by a pitch on the ensuing at bat with the bases loaded to score McShaffry to finish off the seventh and final run of the inning for UT Tyler.
Jepson scored in the sixth to bring the game to it's 8-3 final thanks to a pair of fielding errors for the Javelinas in the frame, advancing on via a fielding error by the Javelinas and then scoring on a throwing error on a swinging third strike of McShaffry by the catcher that sailed into right field and allowed Jepson to come home from third.
Jepson finished the night 2-for-4 from the plate with a double to left center in the bottom of the eighth to add to his two-RBI single in the fifth.
Hayden Clearman put his name in the Patriot baseball record books with four walks on the night, becoming the fifth Patriot in the history of the program to record four in a single game.
The win provided some breathing room for the Patriots in the Lone Star Conference standings, moving four games clear of the Javelinas with a record of 16-6 in league play.
UT Tyler will have a chance to narrow the gap in conference win percentage between themselves and second place Angelo State in games two and three of the series against Texas A&M-Kingsville scheduled for tomorrow night at 6 p.m. and Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
