TYLER, Texas (March 28, 2026) – The University of Texas Permian Basin baseball team was defeated in its Saturday doubleheader, falling 10-2 and 11-3 at No. 18 nationally-ranked The University of Texas at Tyler. In both games, the Patriots had more runs than they did hits.
 
Game 1 (UTPB 2, UT Tyler 10):

• Despite three straight two-out singles, the Falcons were unable to score in the top of the first, but they made starting pitcher Julio Garcia (5-2) work hard with a 30-pitch inning.
• Demetrius Deramus hit a leadoff home run in the top of the third inning, sending the 1-2 pitch to right field and hitting it off the top of the fence, and then Daylon Jefcoats made it back-to-back jacks by hammering a 3-1 pitch way over the fence in left field for his team-leading fifth home run of the season.
• That gave UTPB a 2-0 lead, unfortunately, Damian Robles (5-3) could not hold it in the bottom half. With the bases loaded and one out, UT Tyler got on the board with a sacrifice fly to center field. Then after the third walk of the inning by Robles, including his second four-pitch walk of the inning, Robles had to throw a strike and Cole Ketzner made him pay as he sent Robles' 2-0 pitch out of the park to left center field for a grand slam.
• It was the second grand slam by the Patriots in the first two games of the series and was the second home run in as many games by Ketzner against the Falcons.
• It was also a 30-pitch third inning by Robles.
• The five-run response by the Patriots was similar to Friday's ballgame when after the Falcons scored twice in the top of the first inning, UT Tyler scored five runs in the bottom of the first. In both of those five-run innings, the Patriots accomplished it on just two hits.
• Also similar to Friday's game, after UT Tyler scored its five-run inning, the Patriots scored in every inning thereafter while keeping UTPB off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
• After a bunt single to lead off the bottom of the fourth, UT Tyler added a two-run home run to right center field to take a 7-2 lead, and then after another bunt single in the bottom of the fifth, Ketzner's second home run of the game (six RBI's) was UT Tyler's second two-run shot to right center field in as many innings.
• The wind was blowing left-to-right and fly balls to right field were getting help in this game.
• Eight of the Patriots' first nine runs of the game scored on home runs. In all, UT Tyler hit a home run in three straight innings (3rd-5th) and totaled seven home runs by five different players in the first two games of the series.
• Garcia earned the win for UT Tyler after tossing five innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out three. Jacob Morgan closed out the final two innings, allowing just one hit and striking out three as the Patriots held UTPB scoreless over the final four frames.
• Both teams had seven hits, but UT Tyler drew twice as many walks (6-3) and hit by pitches (2-1).

 
Game 2 (UTPB 3, UT Tyler 11):

• After going 2-for-4 in game one, Gael Bernal started off game two with an RBI-single down the right field line to score Alden Quintanilla, who one batter before drew the two-out walk and then advanced to second base on a wild pitch to set up Bernal's hit.
• That made it 1-0 UTPB in the first inning, but the lead would yet again be short-lived as three straight walks started off the bottom of the first for UT Tyler. That led to a single to right center field by Ketzner that saw all three runners on base score to put the Patriots in front (3-1), and that was followed by another walk, a wild pitch to move up the runners, and an RBI-groundout to make it a four-run inning on only one hit.
• It was the third game in a row UT Tyler answered UTPB scoring first with a bigger-scoring output in the very next half inning.
• UTPB went down 1-2-3 in both the second and third innings while UT Tyler scored three runs in its half of each of those innings to go up by a score of 10-1. The Patriots scored a run on a passed ball and a run on a bases-loaded walk in the second inning, and took advantage of two errors and a hit by pitch to load the bases before scoring its first run of the third inning on a walk by Ketzner. Ketzner drove in three runs for the Patriots in game two, giving him nine RBI's on the day.
• The UT Tyler offense totaled nine walks through the first three innings, and then three straight walks loaded the bases with one out for UTPB in the fourth inning. That led to a pair of runs on a fielder's choice grounder to shortstop by Kaegan Costa as an errant throw by the second baseman trying to turn the double play allowed a second runner to score from second base.
• Isaac Rodriguez would keep the Patriots off the scoreboard in back-to-back innings, allowing just one hit between the fourth and fifth innings, but the UTPB offense was unable to cut into the lead any further as UT Tyler relief pitcher Ethan Jezierski (2-2) picked up the win after holding the Falcons to three hits while striking out four over the final 3.2 innings of the game.
• Bernal was 2-for-2 with a walk, a run and an RBI in game two, giving him a combined four hits on the day.
• UTPB's four hits tied its season-low.
• It was also a rough game defensively as UTPB committed six errors for the first time since April 2, 2023, at Cameron University.

 
Team Records:

• UTPB falls to 8-25 both overall and in the Lone Star Conference while UT Tyler improves to 25-8 and remains tied with UT Dallas for first place in the LSC.

Next Up: The fourth and final game of the series between UTPB and UT Tyler will start at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 29, from Tyler, Texas.