SAN ANGELO, TEXAS – UT Tyler baseball got their weekend off on the right foot as they put together a bigtime effort to take down #17 Angelo State on the road on Friday.
Dylan Blomquist got the ball to begin the contest after the Patriots went down in order, and he put together a strong effort throughout the contest to put the Patriots in a position to win.
His efforts began with a hit by pitch and a single, but he shut down the Rams bats with a flyout and a pair of groundouts to keep the game knotted up after one.
In the second inning, the Patriots struck first, as
Kyle Atkinson drew a walk and eventually made his way around to third before an RBI groundout from
Jordan Ardoin gave the Patriots a 1-0 lead.
Blomquist worked a 1-2-3 second inning, and saw his offense tack on another run in the third inning as
Austin Ochoa dropped in an RBI sacrifice fly that scored
Blake LaBuda from third base.
In the third inning, the Rams would finally get on the board, putting together a single and a walk before a sacrifice fly to left would cut the lead down to 2-1.
In another big response from the Patriots offense,
Kaston Mason,
Hayden Clearman, and LaBuda loaded the bases with just one out in the top half of the fourth before an RBI walk from
Connor Clark and a sacrifice fly from
Ethan Bedgood booked a huge 4-1 lead.
Blomquist would go back out for the fourth, and he worked a harmless inning behind a flyout, foulout, and a fielder's choice to keep the Patriots in front.
Lane Hutchinson picked up a one out single in the fifth inning and quickly made his way home on a two-out triple from Ardoin and the Patriots held a 5-1 lead. That led to Blomquist trotting back out for the fifth, and he worked his second 1-2-3 inning of the night against the top of the order to keep the Patriots in front.
Blomquist would allow a walk and a single before getting a clutch strikeout in the sixth, and he would make way for
Bryson Adair in a big spot. Adair would answer the call, striking out a pair of hitters around a hit by pitch to keep the Rams scoreless in the inning.
After another sacrifice fly in the seventh from the Patriots, this one bringing home Ochoa from the bat of Mason, Adair went back out for the seventh inning and delivered another magical appearance as he set the Rams down in order and preserved a 6-1 lead.
A balk would plate another run for UT Tyler in the eighth inning, giving them a 7-1 lead. Adair made room for
Wyatt Wick in the home half, and got a pair of quick outs. Two walks, an error, and a steal of home would give the Rams a run, and an RBI single would give them another to chase Wick from the game. That brought on
Julio Garcia, and another steal of home and a wild pitch plated two more runs before a groundout finally ended the inning with the Patriots on top 7-5.
In the ninth inning, the Patriots tacked on another run of support thanks to a leadoff triple from Atkinson and an RBI single from Mason to make it 8-5. In the home half of the inning and the last chance for the Rams,
Nick Niebur went to the bump to look for his second save of the season.
After a leadoff single, Niebur induced a fielder's choice to second base to get one out and preserve the potential double play. The next hitter Niebur faced would hit a ground ball to second, and the Patriots were able to turn two on the play and end the game with an 8-5 final score.
Dylan Blomquist moved to 2-0 on the year after serving up 5.1 innings of dominant pitching. He allowed just one run on three hits and struck out a pair in his outing.
Five different Patriots recorded at least two hits on the night, led by DH
Kaston Mason who went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored on the afternoon.
Jordan Ardoin joined Mason with two RBI, as he went 1-for-5 with an RBI triple and RBI groundout.
UT Tyler gets their chance to continue their great start to the series on Saturday as they take on the Rams in a seven inning doubleheader. The first game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. with the second game coming approximately 30 minutes after game one finishes.
