Baseball moves up to No. 4 in latest D3baseball.com poll

Patriots’ Chad Daleiden fields the ball before ending the play at second base during the Patriots 8-7 comeback victory Monday evening at Irwin Field. The Patriots scored eight runs in the 8th inning to win 8-7. Photo by Christy Grant

While students were away on spring break, the Patriots’ baseball team jumped to #4 in the nation.

The Patriots started off March in Sherman where they routed Austin College 14-2 and continued their dominance in Arkansas by beating Hendrix College 9-4 and 9-5.

The Patriots’ next game was one for the ages.

Against Hardin-Simmons, the Patriots were down 10-3 after the first inning and 15-7 after three innings. However, they would go on to outscore the Cowboys 18-1 in the final six innings to win 26-16.

Paige Hodges homered and set a school record with nine runs batted in, while Joe Towns and Brock Lemire hit two home runs in the game.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, they had to play another game the same day following the epic with Hardin-Simmons and lost to Marietta 6-5.

They rebounded the next day by defeating Southwestern (Tex.) 2-1.

The game was tied going into the ninth and with the bases loaded, Chris Tucker flied out to right and Nathan Papadeas scored the winning run.

The following weekend, the Patriots opened up American Southwest conference play against East Texas Baptist University.

They easily swept the doubleheader on Sunday, 10-2 and 11-6.

Game one stayed close for the first five innings until the Patriots scored seven runs on six hits in the sixth. In the inning, Lemire hit a three run home run, which was followed by a home run from Towns.

Brett Holland pitched a complete game, giving up only three hits, one earned run and striking out 10 to pick up his fifth win of the season.

“Our game plan was to get ahead of guys early in the count and then throw the curve ball to put them away,” Holland said.

The Patriots continued their hitting display to start the second game by scoring six runs in the first inning.

However, the Tigers would make a comeback by scoring four runs in the third and tie the game at six in the fourth inning.

The Patriots would retake the lead in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs on a Lemire single and two more in the fifth on a double from Kendall Fox.

James Alvarado picked up his first win of the year, pitching four and one-third innings in relief.

The third game on Monday would not be as easy for the Patriots.

ETBU scored five runs in the first innings thanks to two Patriot errors and added two more runs in the sixth inning on an error by Chad Daleiden. In the bottom of the eighth, the Patriots would come alive.

Austin Newell started the inning off with a single and scored on a double from Tucker, which was followed by a Harding strike out.

Lemire was then hit by a pitch and followed by a fly out to right by Towns. Aaron McCain then walked to load the bases.

Hodges then hit a ground ball deep up the middle, but Tigers shortstop Derek Goyne could not come up with the toss from second baseman Jeremy Phillips, which kept the inning alive.

Nathan Skeen then singled to left-center to score Lemire and McCain. Kendall Fox followed up with a single up the middle that scored Hodges.

Newell would tie the game with a double that scored Skeen and Fox, and score the go ahead run on a single from Tucker.

The Patriots scored a total of eight runs in the inning, seven of those runs came with two outs.

Patriots’ closer Beau Ziegler struck out the side in the top of the ninth for the save and the Patriots’ victory.

Tigers’ starter Chase Willard pitched seven innings, giving up only four hits to the Patriots.

“Our guys battled back ... we got into their bullpen and had good at bats and ran the bases well late,” head coach James Vilade said. “Good things tend to happen when you do those things.”

Newell finished the game 3-for-5 at the plate and drove in two runs, while scoring twice as well.

“It’s got to start with one run at a time and whenever I came up to bat, fortunately I was able to keep the inning going,” Newell said. “I tried to tell myself to calm down … and luckily I got a pitch I could handle and was able to drive it.”

Fox was 1-for-4 for the game and scored the tying run.

“This was a big game for us, we needed something to get us going,” said Fox. “In the eighth, I honestly thought it was the ninth inning with two outs and my approach was to battle and hopefully get on base.”

Tuesday night’s game against UT-Dallas, which was a non-conference contest, required another eighth inning rally for the Patriots.

The Comets tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the eighth inning on a solo home run by Jake Eisman.

In the bottom of the inning, Chad Daleiden walked to start the inning and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tucker.

Fox then singled to score Daleiden and gave the Patriots the lead. Fox scored on a double from Newell and Newell scored on an error by Dallas right fielder Randy Lorber. Ziegler closed out the ninth for the victory, improving his record to 2-1 on the season.

The Patriots continue their season Tuesday when they return home to face Austin College. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

After that game, the Patriots return to conference play this weekend when they travel to Richardson to face UT Dallas.

By Clay Ihlo Staff Writer