CANYON, TEXAS – UT Tyler baseball struggled at the plate as they scattered seven hits and four runs while #4 West Texas A&M used a big charge in the middle innings to pull away in game one of the weekend.
The Buffs scored two runs in the fifth and three more in the seventh to build up their lead and outlast the Patriots in the late stages of the contest.
The Buffs scored first in the contest in the bottom of the second as they capitalized on a walk and an error to put a pair of runners on the corners, before a wild pitch from Patriots starter
Rawley Hector plated a run.
The Patriots offense answered right back in the top of the third, after
Nathan Carriere led off with a walk and moved his way over to second before a two out single from
Ethan Bedgood brought him around to tie the game.
In the home half of the third, Hector worked around a single with a groundout and a flyout, but a walk and a ground-rule double brought home the second run of the game for the Buffs.
Hector battled back with a scoreless fourth, getting three groundouts around a single to keep the Buffs off the board. In the fifth, the Buffs earned three straight walks before an RBI sacrifice fly and later two more walks made it a 4-1 game.
That brought in
Miles Clack for the Patriots, who ended the inning on a groundout.
In the top of the sixth, the Patriots scratched across another run, as Bedgood led off with a double to left field before coming around to score on a
Blake LaBuda sacrifice fly to cut the lead down to 4-2.
Clack worked a scoreless sixth, but the Buffs battled back in the seventh with four total singles and a double to plate three runs and take a 7-2 lead with just two innings left.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Patriots offense again drove in a run, as
Lane Hutchinson led off with a hit by pitch and found his way to third with a wild pitch and a groundout. That brought up Bedgood, who drove him home on a sacrifice fly for his second RBI of the night.
After a scoreless home half of the inning, the Patriots stepped to the plate in the ninth for one last chance at a rally.
Kaston Mason pinch hit to start the inning, and he belted a home run to right field to cut the lead down to 7-4. However, that would be the final run of the night as the Patriots went down in order.
Rawley Hector picked up the lost after going 4.2 innings while allowing three earned runs. He struck out four hitters and allowed just three hits but was hampered by seven walks.
Nathan Carriere and
Ethan Bedgood led the offense with two hits each, while both players scored a run on the night. Bedgood drove home two runs and was joined in that category by LaBuda and Mason.
UT Tyler will look to regroup for tomorrow's doubleheader as they will now see first pitch at 2 p.m. with game two following approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
