TYLER, TEXAS – The UT Tyler baseball team opened the South Central Regional in dominant fashion, eliminating MSU Denver with a 12-3 victory. The Patriots controlled the game from start to finish, racking up 12 hits in the win. Justin Williams highlighted the night by breaking the program's single-season record for runs batted in.
Rawley Hector got the start for UT Tyler and worked efficiently, facing the minimum in the first inning thanks to a 5-4-3 double play. The Patriots struck first in the bottom of the inning when Bryce Jewell laid down a perfect bunt single to score a run after a walk and a double set the table.
MSU Denver tied the game in the third, stringing together two singles and a fielder's choice to plate a run. However, UT Tyler responded quickly and decisively in the bottom half of the inning.
A walk and single started the frame before Jewell drove in his second run of the game. A third single loaded the bases for Tanner Hornback, who delivered a two-run double to make it 4-1. Mason Hammonds followed with an RBI single, an error brought in another run, and a sacrifice fly capped a six-run inning to push the lead to 7-1.
The Roadrunners added a run in the fourth with a two-out double followed by an RBI single up the middle. They would score their final run in the sixth after a single, wild pitch, and RBI double made it 7-3.
UT Tyler answered back in the bottom of the sixth when a leadoff double came around to score on Williams' record-setting RBI, pushing the lead to 8-3.
Nick Niebur entered the game in the sixth and was nearly untouchable. He struck out the final batter of the inning, then fanned two more in the seventh and struck out the side in the eighth—retiring all seven batters he faced and finishing with six strikeouts in 2.1 innings of perfect relief.
The Patriots added four insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Three walks loaded the bases, and Kaston Mason's sacrifice fly scored the first run. Jewell followed with a two-run double to right-center, and Hornback drove in the final run with a single to make it 12-3. Noah Lindt closed the door in the ninth, striking out the side to end the game.
UT Tyler's pitching staff was dominant, with Hector earning his eighth win of the season after going 5.2 innings, allowing three earned runs, and striking out four. Niebur and Lindt combined to face 10 batters, striking out nine and allowing none to reach base. Niebur now boasts a 1.49 ERA over 42.1 innings this season.
Offensively, five Patriots recorded multi-hit games, with the 4,5,6,7, and 9 hitters combining to go 11-for-20. Hammonds finished a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs scored, Hornback went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, and both Atkinson and Mason added 2-for-4 performances. Jewell led the charge, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBIs. He's now hitting .370 with 58 RBIs on the year.
With the win, UT Tyler improves to 44-11 and will face Colorado Mesa in a best-of-three series beginning Friday at 7 p.m to decide who advances to the South Central Super Regionals.
