TYLER, TEXAS – The UT Tyler Baseball program opened their final Lone Star Conference regular season series in emphatic fashion Friday night, rolling to a 13-3 run-rule victory over St. Mary's at Irwin Field. The Patriots exploded for five runs in the first inning and never looked back, capitalizing on seven Rattler errors and delivering a complete performance on both sides of the ball.
St. Mary's briefly took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after two singles and a walk loaded the bases, setting up a sacrifice fly. UT Tyler quickly responded in the bottom half, loading the bases with three straight singles. A passed ball tied the game, and a walk reloaded the bases for Blake LaBuda, who ripped a two-run double to left. Two more runs came across on a fielding error, putting the Patriots ahead 5-1.
Starter Rawley Hector settled in and retired the side in order in the second, bringing the Patriot bats back up. Connor Clark led off the bottom half with a single and eventually scored on another Rattler miscue to push the lead to 6-1.
After a quiet third inning, UT Tyler struck again in the fourth. With two outs, a walk and a single set the stage for Bryce Jewell, who delivered a two-run triple to left-center, extending the lead to 8-1. The Rattlers responded with a run in the fifth on a pair of singles and a wild pitch, then added another in the sixth on an error, single, and sacrifice fly to make it 8-3.
The Patriots answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth. Jewell doubled in a run following a one-out error and then scored on another St. Mary's defensive miscue. UT Tyler kept the pressure on in the seventh, scoring twice more thanks to a walk, wild pitch, and an RBI single by Mason Hammonds, followed by a series of fielder's choices and free passes to bring the score to 12-3.
The game came to an early end in the eighth, as Tanner Hornback's leadoff single eventually led to the 13th and final run on yet another Rattler error, securing a run-rule victory to open Senior Weekend.
Offensively, Drew Schmidt, Connor Clark, and Jewell all recorded multi-hit games. Jewell finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBIs, raising his season average to .364 with 46 RBIs.
Hector improved to 7-1 on the year, tossing 5.1 innings and allowing two runs with one strikeout. Kolby Parker and Wyatt Wick combined to throw the final 2.2 innings, giving up just one hit to close out the game.
With the win, UT Tyler improves to 38-9 on the season and extends their winning streak to 11 games heading into Saturday's doubleheader, set to begin at 3 p.m.
