Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

TYLER, Texas – The seventh-ranked University of Texas at Tyler baseball team swept a doubleheader against McMurry Saturday to end The Nation’s season in the first round of the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament played at Irwin Field.  The Patriots won the first game of the twinbill in convincing fashion, 10-0, before handing McMurry a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in the rubber game in the series. 

McMurry’s season comes to an end with a 26-17 overall mark; meanwhile, the Patriots (34-9) advance to the ASC Championship Series to be played next weekend in Clinton, Miss.

In the decisive third game of the series, the Patriots held a slight 3-2 lead after eight innings of play.  In the top of the ninth, Bradd Baker started the rally for McMurry as he drew a leadoff walk.  Jeff Jackson then singled up the middle, which advanced Baker to second.  The next batter, Gerad Morris, then laid down a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt to advance Baker to third and Jackson to second with only one out.  Weston Franco was then intentionally walked to load the bases. 

Nathan Love then hit a grounder to third, which the Patriots’ third baseman bobbled to allow Baker to score the tying run and every other McMurry base runner to advance a base.  But UT-Tyler pitcher Beau Zigler made sure that was the only damage McMurry would cause in the frame as he struck out Nathan Saltzgaber and Tre Lips to end the inning and leave three McMurry base runners stranded. 

But an error would doom McMurry in the bottom of the ninth as Joe Towns was able to reach base courtesy of a fielder’s miscue.  Chris Tucker came in to  pinch run for Towns and Tucker advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.  The with one out in the inning Nathan Skeen was able to hit a game-winning single to left field, which plated the Patriots’ Tucker from second to win the game for UT-Tyler in dramatic fashion. 


In game one of the doubleheader, UT-Tyler scored 10 runs on 13 hits while McMurry only mustered four hits en route to being shut out.  UT-Tyler ace Blake Booher improves to 9-0 on the year as he pitched a complete-game gem to extend the series to a third game.