CLARKSVILLE, Ark. – The 4th-ranked University of Texas at Tyler baseball team converted all but two of its 19 hits into runs during Friday’s 17-10 American Southwest Conference win over Ozarks at Lonnie Qualls Field in Clarksville.
UT Tyler led 6-3 after three innings and 8-3 after seven, but it was another eighth inning scoring outburst that sealed the win for the Patriots.
In the eighth, UT Tyler (20-4, 4-0) scored eight runs off of five hits and two Ozarks’ errors. The highlight of the inning was senior Chad Daleiden (Cave Creek, Ariz.) hitting the Patriots’ first grand slam homerun of the season.
In the bottom of the ninth, junior pitcher Colby Munchrath (Dallas, Texas) entered the game and recorded to final two outs to halt a five-run rally attempt by Ozarks (8-13, 3-4).
On the day, four different Patriots recorded three hits in the contest. On top of his three hits, senior Joe Towns (Carrollton, Texas) scored three times and drove in three runs.
Senior Kendall Fox (Carrollton, Texas) added a run and a walk to his three hits, while junior Nathan Skeen (White Oak, Texas) combined his hits with two runs, two RBIs, a double and a homerun.
Daleiden, who also had three hits, ended his day with three runs, five RBIs and two homeruns.
Daleiden, Skeen and senior Paige Hodges (Crowley, La.) accomplished a rare feat in the second inning, as the trio hit back-to-back-to-back home runs. The homerun trifecta accounted for all four UT Tyler runs in the inning.
Senior Tommy Rozell (Chandler, Texas) allowed just three runs off of four hits with four strikeouts over six full innings to pick up his third win of the season.
On Saturday, both teams will return to Qualls Field at 12 p.m., for a doubleheader to close out the three-game series.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Texas-Tyler 17, Ozarks (Ark.) 10 (Mar 20, 2009 at Clarksville, Ark.) (Game 1)
———————————————————————-
Texas-Tyler……… 042 000 281 – 17 19 2 (20-4, 4-0 UTT)
Ozarks (Ark.)……. 003 000 025 – 10 12 2 (8-13, 3-4 UTT)
———————————————————————-
Pitchers: Texas-Tyler – Tommy Rozell; James Alvarado(7); Chance Williams(8); Josh Long(9);
Colby Muchrath(9). Ozarks (Ark.) – Todd Koch; Jonathan Cox(7); Logan Kizer(8); Tad Turner(8);
John Phillips(9).
Win-Tommy Rozell(3-0) Loss-Todd Koch(0-3) T-3:35 A-115
HR UTT – Paige Hodges (3); Nathan Skeen (1); Chad Daleiden 2 (6).
