UT Tyler's Graham Welch races home for a run during Tuesday's game against Texas Lutheran. UT Tyler/Courtesy

The UT Tyler Patriots are national champions.

The Patriots won the NCAA Division III World Series on Tuesday, sweeping the best-of-three series from Texas Lutheran University 8-1 and 9-6 at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin.

The old fashion Texas Shootout turned into a Patriots’ day in the Dairy State.

It is UT Tyler’s first national baseball championship as coach Brent Porche is in his second year as Patriot head coach. The baseball team joins the Patriot softball squad that won the national championship in 2016 and the men’s golf team that won the national title in 2013.

“It is amazing,” Porche said. “It has not sunk in yet. … These guys have worked so hard and what they’ve done for the last two-and-a-half weeks I will be thinking about this the rest of my life.

“They are the definition of toughness and grit. They weren’t going to be denied. It’s been so fun to watch and I’m so proud.”

This is a Patriots team (40-18) that was unranked and didn’t know if they would even make the NCAA Tournament after being ousted in the semifinals of the American Southwest Conference. But they did receive an at-large bid and won five elimination games en route to the championship, going 11-2 in the postseason and 5-1 in Wisconsin. The Patriots won the Central Regional in Sauget, Illinois.

Simon Sedillo, senior pitcher from Grand Prairie, was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

Other Patriots on the all-tournament team were Bowie Farris, junior from shortstop from Denton and transfer from North Lake College; Blake Maddox, junior catcher from Jacksonville and transfer from Tyler Junior College; Tanner Roach, freshman from Whitehouse; and Henry Sanchez, a junior from San Antonio and transfer from SFA.

Also, after the game Ben Romines, a senior who played at Tyler Lee, proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes.

 

GAME 2

After taking the first game, 8-1, the Patriots needed just another win to take the title.

In the second game, UT Tyler won 9-6 and took the lead for good in the seventh inning on Alex Bishop’s two-run homer. It was Bishop’s 199th career hit as a Patriot. It was also his 21st home run and a Patriot record career 145th RBI.

Maddox had a two-run homer in the fourth to give the Patriots a 4-1 lead before the Bulldogs plated three in the sixth to tie the game at 4-4.

Then in the seventh, sparked by Bishop’s blast, the Patriots scored five runs for a 9-4 lead.

The Bulldogs scored two in the eighth to pull within 9-6, but Alexander Masotto, in relief of starter Ryan Cheatham of Whitehouse, shut down TLU in order for the win.

Roach and Farris had doubles for the Patriots.

Farris had three hits with Roach and Blake Wilson adding two each. Others with hits were Jared Pauley, Graham Welch and Sanchez.

Maddox led with three RBIs with Roach driving in two. Sanchez also had an RBI.

Scoring runs were Farris (2), Pauley, Wilson, Welch, Maddox and Sanchez.

Keaton Boysen led the Bulldogs with three hits with Riley Schaefer, Cameron Wilson and Eric Rabinowitz driving in two RBIs each.

Masotto got the win in relief, going 3 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on two hits while striking out one.

Cheatham, who was 4-0 in the postseason including 1-0 at the World Series, hurled 5 1/3 innings on little rest. He gave up eight hits and four runs while striking out two.

 

GAME 1

Sedillo (9-1) pitched a six-hitter as the Patriots took the first game.

Jared Pauley led the hitting attack with three hits, including two doubles, and two RBIs. It was the 21st straight game the Longview native had garnered a hit.

Wilson added a triple and two RBIs.

Roach and Farris each had two hits, while Josh Burns, Welch and Maddox added singles.

Burns had three RBIs with Maddox also driving in a run.

Pauley scored three runs with Bishop, Farris, Welch, Maddox and Sanchez scoring one each.

Riley Schaefer and Tyler Cauley each had doubles with Ben Marvin adding two hits for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs end their season at 42-12,

The Patriots swept TLU in five games this season, also winning three games in February in Seguin.

After 19 years, it was the final NCAA D-III World Series in Appleton. For the next four years, the tournament will be held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.