KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – UT Tyler baseball will head into the final three games of the series down 1-0 after Texas A&M-Kingsville took a 6-2 win in the opening game of the series.
 
Dylan Blomquist got the ball to start the contest for UT Tyler after the offense was unable to plate a run in the first inning. The Javelinas got an early walk and a single around a strikeout to put a pair on the corners, and a sacrifice squeeze bunt plated a run to give them a 1-0 lead.
 
The offense answered right back, as Jordan Ardoin drilled a one out double down the line and then came around to score as Blake LaBuda singled to tie up the game.
 
In the second, Blomquist got a flyout and gave up a walk before getting a huge inning-ending ground ball double play.
 
A scoreless inning for the Patriots offense ensued, and Josh Pelfrey would take over for Blomquist to begin the third.
 
The Javelinas were able to scratch across a run after a walk and an error, and a delayed steal gave them the lead right back after three innings at 2-1.
 
Again, the Patriots offense had the answers, as LaBuda led off the fourth with a double. Hayden Clearman would follow with a hit by pitch, and Nathan Carriere dropped in a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Kyle Atkinson drove a deep sacrifice fly to right field to plate LaBuda, and the Patriots drew even yet again.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, the Javelinas struck again, as they got a walk and two straight singles combined with a throwing error to plate two more runs and take a 4-2 lead.
 
The Patriots offense put a pair of runners on in the sixth, but were unable to find the big hit and cut into the Javelinas lead. In the eighth, the Patriots put a runner into scoring position with two outs, but went down swinging to end the frame.
 
The Javelinas would scrape together two more runs in the eighth, putting together four total singles to double their lead to 6-2 with just the ninth inning remaining.
 
In the final frame, the Patriots got singles from Austin Ochoa and Ethan Menard, but were unable to tack on any runs as they closed out the game with a 6-2 defeat.
 
For the game, the Patriots offense totaled nine hits, led by Blake LaBuda who went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
 
UT Tyler will now set their sights on doubleheader Saturday as they look to battle right back into the series against Texas A&M-Kingsville. Game one of the doubleheader is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. with game two starting approximately 30 minutes later.