SAN ANGELO, TEXAS – The hot hitting UT Tyler baseball program faced off against an equally hot Angelo State team on Thursday night but couldn't hold them off as the Rams took a 13-3 victory.
The Patriots were the team to strike first, leading off with a big home run to right field by
Kyle McShaffry. That lead to a 1-0 lead, and
Dylan Blomquist would head to the mound for UT Tyler to try and hold off the Rams offense.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Rams came right back, scoring three runs of their own to take a 3-1 lead. A two RBI double was followed by an RBI double play that allowed the Patriots to keep the damage to a minimum.
In the second inning, the Rams went back to work, scoring two more runs off of a home run to stretch the lead out to four.
In the third inning, the Rams would put their stamp on the game with a huge inning. A leadoff homer was followed by a single, and just two batters later the Rams ripped another home run for their third run of the inning. That drove Blomquist from the game, and brought in
Easton Malin in relief.
A single and a steal led to a runner on second, and an RBI single drove the runner home. That was followed by another single, and then back to back home runs plated four more runs for Angelo State to run the lead out to 13-1.
With the Patriots bats held in check, Malin went back to work to hold off the Rams offense. In the fourth, he worked around a double while striking out the side. In the fifth, he faced the minimum while adding in another strikeout.
The Patriots broke the spell in the sixth inning with a leadoff single. After a strikeout, the runner was moved over to second to put a runner in scoring position, but UT Tyler was unable to score him.
Malin kept it rolling again in the sixth, setting the side down in order for the second consecutive inning. In the seventh, the Patriots once again threatened to score. After the first two batters went down, a walk followed by a single put runners on the corners. However, the Patriots couldn't cash it in to cut the lead down.
In the eighth inning, UT Tyler would finally break the seal at the plate and cash in their second run.
Cade Watson led off the inning by reaching on an error and moved to second on the play. A groundout moved him to third, and
Carson Cox stepped in and ripped a double down the right field line to score him.
In the top of the ninth, the Patriots would look to put up one final effort in hopes of sparking a rally.
Ethan Bedgood singled to center field as the second batter in the inning, and
Lukas Polanco followed with a walk. A groundout moved both runners up a base, and Watson came up with an RBI single to left field to cut the lead to 10. However that is all the Patriots could come up with as a strikeout ended the contest.
The three Patriots RBI came from three different players on the night.
Kyle McShaffry drove himself home with a solo home run in the first. Cox posted an RBI double, and Watson delivered an RBI single.
The performance of the day came from reliever
Easton Malin. He stepped in with one out in the third and was tagged for five runs. However, he battled right back, and went five more innings without giving up a single run. Over those five innings, he gave up just two hits and also had a streak of retiring 11 consecutive batters to help save the Patriots bullpen for the remainder of the weekend.
Next up for UT Tyler will be an elimination game against St. Edward's. That game will begin at 11 a.m. in San Angelo, Texas as both programs will look to begin their climb back into the LSC tournament race.
The winner of that contest will then turn around for a 7 p.m. start in another elimination game between them and the loser of the 3 p.m. contest between Angelo State and West Texas A&M.
