AUSTIN, TEXAS – The #5/5/7 UT Tyler baseball team dropped the opening game of their series against St. Edward's, falling 5-4 in extra innings. A tightly contested pitching duel turned into an 11-inning thriller that ultimately favored the Hilltoppers.
The Patriots went down in order in the first inning, bringing out their dominant starter, Rawley Hector. St. Edward's struck early, capitalizing on a leadoff single and a throwing error to put runners in scoring position. A sacrifice fly plated one run, but Hector responded with back-to-back strikeouts to limit the damage, trailing just 1-0.
UT Tyler quickly responded in the second inning when Blake LaBuda launched his third home run of the season, tying the game at 1-1. The Patriots took their first lead in the third, courtesy of an Ethan Menard solo homer, making it 2-1.
Hector settled into a groove, retiring the minimum from the second through the fourth innings with help from two double plays. However, after retiring the first two batters in the fifth, he surrendered a solo home run that knotted the game at 2-2.
Hector closed out his outing in the sixth in dominant fashion, striking out the side. He exited with a no-decision despite an impressive stat line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 9 K on 80 pitches.
With Hector out of the game, St. Edward's took advantage of the Patriots' bullpen in the seventh, using a double, a single, and a sacrifice bunt to push across two runs and take a 4-2 lead.
UT Tyler refused to go down without a fight, battling back in the eighth. Two leadoff walks set the stage for a sacrifice bunt by Tanner Hornback, moving both runners into scoring position. Bryce Jewell followed with an infield single to cut the deficit to one, and Connor Clark's RBI single to right tied the game at 4-4.
The game remained deadlocked into extra innings until the bottom of the 11th, when the Hilltoppers walked it off with a bunt single.
Four Patriots recorded multiple hits in the game, including Drew Schmidt, who extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a 2-for-6 performance at the plate. Blake LaBuda contributed two extra-base hits, launching a home run in the second inning and adding a double in the sixth. Ethan Menard also went deep for his second home run of the season, bringing his RBI total to five on the year.
Rawley Hector delivered another stellar outing, continuing his dominant start to the season. He has now allowed two or fewer runs in all five of his starts and has given up four or fewer hits in four of those outings. With nine strikeouts in this game, he has 36 total strikeouts on the year and lowered his ERA to an impressive 1.19.
The loss snapped UT Tyler's eight-game winning streak, dropping their record to 14-3 on the season. The Patriots will look to bounce back in Saturday's doubleheader at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.
