TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler finally jumped out to the early lead in the series finale and that helped lead to a dominant performance as they snapped their four game losing skid with a 13-0 run rule victory over seven innings against Eastern New Mexico.
 
Nolan Cox was tasked with the start on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Tyler and head coach Brent Porche looked to Cox to hold the Greyhounds off the scoreboard in the early innings.
 
A leadoff single for Eastern New Mexico and a wild pitch moved that runner into scoring position to put early pressure on Cox, but he held his ground with a big strikeout and two consecutive groundouts to hold the Greyhounds off the board.
 
With the Greyhounds held scoreless in the first inning for the first time all series, the Patriots went to work to secure a lead for their big left hander on the mound. Riley Lambert led off with a double, and a deep single into the hole at shortstop from Tommy van de Sanden put two on with no outs. Kyle McShaffry stepped to the plate, and delivered a deep flyout to right that served as a sacrifice fly and drove in Lambert to give the Patriots the lead.
 
A foulout gave the Patriots two outs, but a single from Jordan Gochenour drove home van de Sanden and the lead was up to 2-0 after the first inning.
 
An early lead for the Patriots allowed Cox to settle in, and he did just that, mowing down the Greyhounds over the next three innings while allowing just three baserunners and striking out three hitters.
 
With their pitcher in a groove, the Patriots looked to their bats to add some insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth, and they connected with a big inning. A leadoff flyout gave the Greyhounds one out, but the Patriots sent 11 hitters to the plate before another out was recorded.
 
Carson Cox got the inning going with a single, and moved over to third after a Kyle Hawkins single. A squeeze bunt single from Tanner Roach scored a run, and Lambert was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A single from van de Sanden scored two more, and McShaffry drove in another run with another single in the next at-bat.
 
Another single from Ethan Bedgood loaded the bases and brought in the first reliever of the game for Eastern New Mexico. A wild pitch immediately scored a run, and a walk reloaded the bases again. An error by the second baseman led to another run as Cade Watson reached base, and the second single of the inning from Cox scored two more runs.
 
That chased the first reliever from the game and brought in another reliever for the Greyhounds, and he was able to temporarily stop the run from UT Tyler with a popup. However, Roach delivered with a two out single to score two more runs and deliver the last of the 10 runs in the inning for UT Tyler.
 
With the heavy run support from his offense, Cox came back out to pitch, and delivered another pair of solid innings as he allowed just one walk and struck out four hitters over the fifth and sixth innings. That held the Greyhounds in check as UT Tyler added in their 13^th and final run in the fifth inning on a Carson Cox sacrifice fly that scored McShaffry.
 
With the game well in hand, Coach Porche turned to reliever A.J. Irvin to shut down the Eastern New Mexico bats once and for all, and he did just that. Irvin sat down the lienup in order in the seventh off of two popouts and a flyout to center field to secure the win.
 
Six different Patriots hitters had a multi-hit game as the bats caught fire in the final game of a four game series against the Greyhounds. Kyle McShaffry and Tanner Roach each went 3-for-4 in the ballgame and scored a combined three runs while also driving in five.
 
Nolan Cox got his first win of the season in his longest outing so far, going a strong six innings. Cox gave up just four hits on the game, one walk, and struck out eight hitters. He only allowed two runners on the basepaths at the same time once over six innings, and only one runner reached third base in the game.
 
Next up for UT Tyler will be a road trip out to Lawton, Oklahoma to take on Cameron. That series will begin on Friday with a 2 p.m. scheduled first pitch. On Saturday, the two programs will face off in a doubleheader that is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. with game two beginning approximately 35 minutes after game one concludes. The series will wrap up on Sunday with another 1 p.m. start.