TYLER, TEXAS – #25 UT Tyler made it consecutive one-run wins in a 6-5 victory over UAFS to open up Clements Fluids Alumni Weekend at Irwin Field on Friday afternoon.
It took the Patriots some time to get going in a game that was moved to a 1 p.m. start, and then delayed over three hours due to inclement weather in the area, before scoring runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to come-from-behind and take game one of the series. The Patriots answered an early deficit for the second contest in a row dating back to Sunday's 4-3 series-deciding win over Texas A&M-Kingsville, and once again benefited from a shutdown bullpen performance from
Nathan Holmes and
Matthew McMillan.
UAFS plated four runs in the first two frames against Patriots starter
Nick Niebur, but was shutdown by the Holmes and McMillan combo in the final four innings to allow the Patriot string of runs in the middle innings to serve as the difference in the ballgame. Holmes stranded a pair of runners in the sixth and seventh innings for the Lions and then answered leadoff singles in the eighth to hold the 6-5 lead for the Patriots into the ninth.
McMillan struck out all three batters he faced to pick up save number six on the year for the Patriot closer, while Holmes matched McMillan's strikeout total in his 2.2 innings pitched in relief.
Kyler Bumstead stayed hot at the plate for the Patriots, going 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored on a day in which UT Tyler recorded 10 hits and drew seven hit by pitches in the contest. Bumstead has gone 6-for-10 in the last two Patriot one-run wins.
UT Tyler began their work to cut into the 4-0 UAFS lead after two innings in the bottom of the third with a Bumstead single with one out.
Kyle McShaffry hit one off the right center wall for a triple on the ensuing at bat to score Bumstead, and then came home on the play after the throw to third got past the Lion third baseman and allowed McShaffry to score.
A pair of two-out singles following the second out of the inning for the Patriots from
Jordan Gochenour and
Ethan Bedgood set
Tommy Tolve up to deliver a single to right center that scored Bedgood from second to cut the deficit to 4-3. A leadoff homer for the Lions in the fourth ran the lead back up to two runs at 5-3, before the Patriots second straight quality inning finally evened the score up at 5-5 after the fourth.
Bumstead once again notched the first hit of the inning for the Patriots in that fifth inning, singling to left center after
Riley Jepson was hit by a pitch as the second batter of the frame. McShaffry was hit by a pitch in the ensuing at bat following the Bumstead single to load the bases before Polanco singled down the leftfield line to score Bumstead and Jepson to even the contest up at 5-5.
Niebur retired the Lion lineup in order moving through the top of the fifth before
Edward Ortiz scored on a botched pickoff attempt at first by UAFS to score the unearned go-ahead run in the bottom half of the frame. Niebur came out in the sixth ahead 6-5 to pick up the win, before Holmes took over after two runners advanced on for the Lions on Niebur with one out. Holmes worked out of that jam with a pop up and then a strikeout to end the inning before he and McMillan effectively shutdown the Lion offense to secure the 6-5 Patriot win.
Polanco was credited with the pair of RBI on the tying single that scored Bumstead and Jepson in the fifth while McShaffry and Tolve each picked up an RBI as well.
The Patriots will take the 1-0 series lead into tomorrow's doubleheader against the Lions, as the Patriots are set to recognize Clements Fluids and their returning alumni throughout both contests. UT Tyler will also award the annual Isaac Tijerina Award prior to first pitch of the doubleheader in honor of the Patriot alum.
