TYLER, TEXAS - #25 UT Tyler picked up their fifth straight Lone Star Conference series win with a pair of wins in doubleheader action on Saturday afternoon at Irwin Field in 13-7 and 19-6 wins over UAFS.
 
The Patriots scored five or more runs in three different innings on the day, including eight runs and seven runs in their final two trips to the plate, as the club hit .423 from the plate and totaled 30 hits between the two games. Those 15 runs combined in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings of game number two ended that contest in seven innings as the Patriots ran their league record to 20-7 in Lone Star Conference play.
 
Four different Patriots recorded four hits between the two games in front of a high-energy crowd at Irwin Field to cap off Clements Fluids Alumni Weekend for the program. Lukas Polanco hit a pair of homers and freshman Ethan Bedgood matched the Division II program record for most RBI in a single game after going 3-for-4 with seven total RBI in game number two.
 
Four of those RBI came on a sixth inning grand slam to enact the run rule of the Lions and continued a streak of 15 runs for the Patriots in their final two trips to the plate after trailing 5-0 at one point early in the contest to the Lions.
 
UT Tyler trailed at some point in all three games of the series sweep of UAFS, but proved relentless at the plate throughout the series. Eight runs in the bottom of the fifth negated a 5-4 Lion lead entering the frame, and put an exclamation point on a dominant series for the Patriot offense.
 
UT Tyler posted their first inning of five or more runs in the bottom of the second of game number one as UAFS jumped out to a 1-0 lead to kickoff the day after Keith Long was presented with the Isaac Tijerina Award prior to first pitch of the doubleheader in honor of the fallen Patriot whose legacy continues on within the program with the presentation of the annual award each year.
 
Jordan Gochenour got that second inning started for the Patriots with a two-run homer off the scoreboard in right field to begin the offensive explosion for UT Tyler. Hayden Clearman and Riley Jepson followed suit and continued to drive in runs following that Gochenour shot to right, running the advantage to 4-1.
 
Jepson and Clearman then executed a double-steal from first and third to add one more, before Kyle McShaffry plated Jepson with the first of his three RBI on the day to extend the lead to 6-1.
 
UAFS answered those six Patriot runs with five of their own in the top of the third. A Jepson triple to center, the first of two triples on the afternoon for the Patriots, capped off a three-run fifth for UT Tyler to regain the advantage in the offensive slugfest. Polanco led off with a solo shot to leftfield to tack on one more to the 10-6 Patriot lead in the sixth.
 
Polanco followed up that homer with his second of the day in as many at bats in the eighth, posting the second of the eighth inning for the Patriots after Bumstead started the frame with a leadoff solo homer. Those two of the five homers for the afternoon for the club ran the game run score to it's 13-7 final tally.
 
Johnnie Krawietz was credited with the win in game number one after coming on in relief in the second inning for starter Jacob Blatney, going 2.1 innings while allowing no earned runs to run his season record to 3-2. A.J. Irvin was credited with the save, his first of the season.
 
The Patriots offense answered an early onslaught of runs by the Lions in game number two with two runs in the second and third and then the aforementioned 15 in the fifth and sixth. Nolan Cox benefited from the offensive support to pick up the win after going six innings, despite allowing six earned runs to the Lion lineup.
 
Kyler Bumstead got a two-out rally going to begin to cut into the Lion lead with a single to left that scored two to start the Patriot comeback. Bedgood struck for the first of his seven RBI in the bottom of the third with a double to left that scored Polanco.
 
Edward Ortiz joined in on the offensive fun for the Patriots with a groundout that scored Gochenour from third to run that tally to 5-4 after three.
 
That Lion advantage officially ended in the bottom of the fifth, as UT Tyler scored eight runs on six hits and posted three doubles in the inning alone to build a 12-5 lead at the end of the frame. Bedgood capped off his third extra-base hit of the game with the grand slam in the sixth to enact the run rule and complete the 15 runs scored in the final two trips to the plate with seven runs in the seventh.
 
UT Tyler will look to stay hot at the plate in Tuesday's midweek action against Arkansas-Monticello at 4 p.m. before returning to Lone Star Conference play on Apr. 16-18 on the road at Oklahoma Christian.