OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - After a slow offensive outing in game one, the Patriots got all systems firing on offense to go along with an outstanding effort on the mound from Brayden Freeman to secure their first win of the year.
 
GAME ONE
 
After the late rally from the Eagles in the first game of the series, the Patriots turned to arguably one of their best returning pitchers in A.J. Irvin. After a quick inning from the offense in the top half of the first, Irvin got himself out of a jam with an inning-ending double play to keep the game scoreless after one.
 
After a second inning that featured just one batter reaching base, it was the Patriots who struck first yet again, this time in the third inning thanks to some strong baserunning and a timely hit. Riley Lambert led off with a walk, and found himself on third base thanks to a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt. That brought up Carson Cox, who knocked in the run to give UT Tyler the lead.
 
Irvin worked another 1-2-3 inning in the third, but in the fourth inning the Eagles got their offense going. Three straight singles loaded the bases before Irvin struck out the next hitter for out number one. Another single followed, and two runners came home for the Eagles. After a steal and a popup, the Eagles had two runners in scoring position with two outs, and brought them both home again with a single to extend the lead to 4-1.
 
The Patriots were unable to get anything rolling over the fourth and fifth innings, but in the sixth a pair of singles from Austin Ochoa and Jordan Gochenour had them threatening. A fielder's choice from Ethan Bedgood put runners on the corners with two outs, but a flyout to left field ended the threat.
 
In the bottom half, the Eagles put their final stamp on the contest. After a lineout to begin the inning, a double and then a two run homer to left field drove in the final two runs in a 5-1 game.
 
Austin Ochoa was the lone Patriot with two hits, going 2-3 in the contest. Jordan Gochenour drove in the lone run while going 1-2 with a walk.
 
A.J. Irvin's final line was six innings pitched with nine hits and six earned runs while registering six strikeouts and one walk.
 
GAME TWO
 
The Patriots had their offense going for half of the contest on Saturday afternoon, but it fired on all cylinders for the entire contest in the second game of the doubleheader on Sunday.
 
UT Tyler scored a run in six of the seven innings in the contest, and scored three runs in both the second and third innings to take the lead up to seven after just three innings of play.
 
Cox led off with a single, and Tommy van de Sanden added in a walk to put two on with no outs. The next two batters went down in order, but Ethan Bedgood stepped up big again, coming up with a single to center field that plated Cox and the first run of the game.
 
The run continued quickly, as a pair of walks and a fielder's choice put two runners on. That brought Cox back to the plate, and he took his turn in the clutch to drill a double to the right center field gap and plate two more runs. Van de Sanden would then single to left field to plate Cox for the third run of the inning.
 
A double from Adrian Minjares followed by a Tres Thomas walk put two more runners on with just one out in the third, and van de Sanden took his chance and drove a ball over the left center field wall for a three run blast and a 7-0 lead after just two and a half innings.
 
Six foot one inch newcomer Brayden Freeman was handed the ball from head coach Brent Porche to start the second game of the doubleheader, and he threw an absolute gem to keep the hot Eagles offense at bay.
 
Freeman forced a pair of groundouts and a strikeout around a walk in the first inning, and in the second inning he kept it rolling with another strikeout and then a double play after a walk. After a three up-three down set in the third, Oklahoma Christian would finally get on the board in the fourth inning after a walk and a single put two runners on. Another walk would load the bases, and the Eagles came up with a big double to center field to net two runs.
 
That would signify the end of Freeman's day after coming up big on the mound while the Patriots offense got cooking. The offense continued to roll, coming up with an RBI single in the fourth and a solo shot from Ochoa in the fifth to run the lead out to 9-2.
 
The bottom half of the inning saw Hayden Collins take over on the bump, and he worked a quick inning with a groundout, flyout and a strikeout around a walk to keep the Eagles offense down.
 
Edward Ortiz would knock in a run with a double play groundout in the Patriots half of the sixth, and Collins went right back to work with another quick inning that saw two groundouts and a flyout around a walk.
 
After UT Tyler went down without a run for the first time in the game, Logan Henderson stepped on the mound with the task of finishing off the game. Henderson worked with a strikeout, a flyout, and then ended the game with another strikeout to secure the first UT Tyler win of the year.
 
Four Patriots had at least two hits in the game, as Bedgood went 3-4 with an RBI, a double and a run scored to lead the pack. Tommy van de Sanden had a team high four RBI after going 2-3 with a homerun. Jordan Gochenour and Carson Cox also came up with two hits.
 
Brayden Freeman collects his first win as a Patriot after going 4.0 innings on 63 pitches while allowing just three hits and two runs. He struck out five batters and issued just four walks while allowing one extra base hit.
 
Now the Patriots will face off with the Eagles at 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon as they look to secure the series split to open up the 2023 campaign. Following that contest, UT Tyler will head home to host St. Mary's in their first home series of the year inside Irwin Field at the UT Tyler Ballpark.