By Alan Wiederhold
Sports Information Director
LeTourneau University
TYLER, Texas – T.J. Martin's bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the No. 6 UT-Tyler Patriots to a 7-6 comeback victory Friday over LeTourneau at Irwin Field.
The Patriots (24-2, 8-2 ASC East) had to erase a LeTourneau advantage twice in the final two innings, as the visiting YellowJackets had reclaimed the lead with a two-run home run by Chris Bertram (Friendswood, Texas/Baytown Christian) in the top of the ninth.
Trailing 6-5 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Patriots loaded the bases with one out, and then pushed the tying run across when catcher Hayden Chick's fielder's choice allowed Aaron McCain to score. Chick's groundball was well-placed, and the Jackets were unable to make an out on the play.
After muffing a save opportunity in the top of the ninth, Tyler's Jack Barkley held on to claim the win and move to 3-1 on the season. The Jackets tagged starting pitcher Kory Cleveland for four runs in seven innings.
The Patriots had to overcome a valiant performance on the mound from LeTourneau's Garrett Methvin (3-3), who pitched all 8 2/3 innings for the YellowJackets. He gave up only three earned runs and threw 146 pitches, his highest total in seven starts this year.
After sweeping Ozarks last weekend for their first conference victories, the YellowJackets (14-12) fell to 3-4 in American Southwest Conference play.
Martin was the hero twice for the Patriots, who are ranked No. 6 in the nation by d3baseball.com. He knocked home two runs with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to give the Pats a 5-4 lead – their first lead of the game.
Prior to the eighth inning, the Patriots were unable to do much damage to Methvin (Longview, Texas/Arkansas), who had held UT-Tyler scoreless for the previous five innings. The Pats had several chances to put multiple runs on the scoreboard only to have the LeTourneau defense rob them of opportunities.
Trailing 3-0 with two on and no outs in the bottom of the first, Methvin was helped out of a jam when first baseman Daniel McLean (Plano, Texas/Plano) made a leaping grab to rob Justin Juneau of a sure double. McLean then easily tagged McCain coming back to first for the unassisted double play.
In the bottom of the eighth inning and with Methvin having past the 125-pitch mark, the Patriots had a chance to do more than just grab a one-run lead, but left the bases loaded when Methvin struck out Jake Ashley.
Meanwhile, the Jackets also left the bases loaded in the third, fifth and eighth innings.
Nate Tomaszewski (Dove Canyon, Calif./Tesoro) went 3-for-4 with two doubles for the YellowJackets. He also robbed Tyler leadoff hitter David Ring of a sure extra-base hit with a catch in right field on an all-out sprint. Tomaszewski caromed into the outfield wall, but hung on to make the catch.
Bertram went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Methvin and Dustin Varnado (Gilmer, Texas/Gilmer) also knocked a pair of base hits in the game.
The YellowJackets and Patriots square off again Saturday in a doubleheader, with first pitch scheduled for noon.