OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA – UT Tyler baseball kept their offensive firepower rolling from the second game of the doubleheader on Sunday in a big way on Monday afternoon as they hammered five home runs and scored 11 runs to split the opening series of LSC play.
After scoring runs in six of the seven innings in their most recent contest, the Patriots wasted no time in getting on the board again in the first inning. A
Carson Cox leadoff double immediately put him in scoring position, and
Jordan Gochenour would bring him home with a single to center field to make it 1-0 Patriots.
Nolan Cox would get the ball to close out the series for UT Tyler, and he went to work with a strong outing. Cox set the Eagles down in order in the first and then kept up the shutout pitching by working around a single and a walk in the second. After another three up, three down third, Cox handed it over to the Patriots offense as they exploded in the top of the fourth to take control of the game.
Gochenour returned to the plate and singled again to put a man on. That brought up
Austin Ochoa, who drilled a pitch to left center field for a two run homer and a 3-0 lead. That lead expanded just three pitches later, as
Ethan Bedgood connected on a shot over the left field wall to make it back-to-back homers.
Four more Patriots runs followed in the inning thanks to a single, and a pair of walks to load the bases. That brought up
Carson Cox, who reached on a fielding error to score another run. After a wild pitch scored another run, Gochenour came up big again with his third single of the game to drive in the seventh and eighth runs of the contest.
Nolan Cox would return to the mound in the bottom of the fourth after the long break, and allow his lone run of the contest after a throwing error on a ground ball put a runner in scoring position. That error was followed by a double to center field, and the Eagles were on the board.
Cox would finish out the fifth inning to wrap up his afternoon, but not after the Patriots added even more run support thanks to
Kaston Mason. Mason made his first career start on Monday afternoon, and his first career hit came in the fifth inning by way of a solo home run to center field.
Another solo home run in the six, this time from
Lane Hutchinson would make it a 10-1 contest.
Julio Garcia would step on the mound for his first appearance as a Patriot, and the Eagles quickly tried to get themselves rolling. A single was followed by two strikeouts, but a hit by pitch and a walk would load the bases with two outs. That brought up Michael DiFiore, and he launched a pitch high over the left center field wall for a grand slam to make it 11-5.
UT Tyler went down in order in the seventh, and
Cade Maclin stepped in for Garcia in the bottom half. Maclin would work a scoreless inning that saw him retire the Eagles with three strikeouts around two singles and a walk.
Garrett Arredondo would relieve Maclin in the eighth and quickly dispatch the Eagles 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts. Mason would launch yet another homer to lead off the ninth inning for his second career home run on his second career hit. Arredondo would go right back out for the ninth, and forced the Eagles into a strikeout, a flyout, and a groundout to end the ballgame.
Nolan Cox earned the win after going five full innings and allowing just three hits and one run. He struck out four and issued just one walk.
Three Patriots collected two or more hits on the day as
Jordan Gochenour led the way with a 4-5 performance that included three RBI and a run scored.
Adrian Minjares and
Kaston Mason each collected two hits as Mason went 2-4 with two RBI on two homers and three runs scored.
The Patriots will now get to head back to Texas and enjoy their first home series of the 2023 season as they host St. Mary's beginning Friday night. The four game set will begin with a 7 p.m. first pitch on Friday followed by a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday and then wrapping up with a 1 p.m. start on Sunday.
