UT Tyler Patriots in the dugout at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wis.

Whitehouse native Ryan Cheatham had a solid outing on the mound in leading the UT Tyler Patriots to a 7-3 win over Misericordia University on Saturday and within a victory of playing in the NCAA Division III World Series national championship series.

Cheatham (9-5) pitched 8 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and three runs, two of which were earned, and striking out one at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin. It is his fourth postseason victory.

The Patriots (37-17) go to 2-0 in the tourney and have a chance to secure the Bracket One championship at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

UT Tyler will meet the winner of the Misericordia (37-14) vs. Randolph-Macon (36-8-1), which is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sunday. Randolph-Macon, of Ashland, Virginia, defeated Oswego State (New York), 11-4, in an elimination game.

“This is the first time we’ve won the second game of a tournament in the past few weeks,” UT Tyler coach Brent Porche said. “You can only come back from the dead so many times, so it’s good to be in this position right now. No matter what, it’s the same approach, though, when we come back out here. We want to play relaxed, trust each other, have fun playing together and execute to be successful. That’s what we are trying to do every time regardless of the situation or the opponent.”

Cheatham was within two outs of a complete game before Alexander Masotto pitched the final 2/3 innings.

“Every inning coach Porche would ask me for one more,” Cheatham said. “When the fifth came around, he just said go compete and get the first guy. That was my approach the entire game. I was just trying to throw strikes and mix up my pitches to give the team a chance to win. With the defense I have behind me, it’s easy to go out there and keep the ball low and let them play. It was awesome watching them make those plays behind me today.”

Patriots right fielder Tanner Roach came up with a huge defensive play in the first inning after the first two Cougars reached on singles. Roach reached on the fence to rob Tyler Holzapfel of a home run and then threw to second baseman Henry Sanchez to double up Kenny Jarema.

The Patriots broke out to a 6-0 lead on the Cougars from Dallas, Pennsylvania.

Henry Sanchez led UT Tyler with a 3-for-3 outing, while Blake Maddox had two doubles in four plate appearances. Jared Pauley added two singles and two RBIs.

Graham Welch had a triple with Josh Burns, Bowie Farris and Sanchez adding doubles.

Also adding RBIs were Wilson, Farris, Welch, Maddox and Sanchez.

Scoring runs were Alex Bishop (2), Burns, Welch, Maddox, Zane Wilkinson and Sanchez.

The Cougars were led by two singles each by Jarema and Parker Abate. Holzapfel and Sean Lyons added doubles with Steve Weisensee and Sean Boylan contributing singles. Abate and Holzapfel drove in runs.

Scoring runs were Lyons, Dalton Emerich and Chad Bell.

Cheatham has now earned postseason wins over Ozarks (Arkansas), Aurora (Illinois), Webster (Missouri) and Misericordia, taking his career win total to 18 at UT Tyler after he went 9-0 last season. 

“He’s the story of the game,” said Porche of Cheatham. “For two years, he’s been a guy for us. Last year toward the end of the year he struggled some and didn’t get a chance to pitch in the postseason. We went two and out with a couple other guys and he didn’t even get a chance. This year, it has been the exact opposite. He’s stepped up in the biggest times. He gave us two big starts at the regional, including a complete game on two days rest. And then he steps up again today and did a phenomenal job. He did everything that he could to help us win.”

UT Tyler has now won seven straight games that started with a 10-1 win over No. 13 Franklin (Indiana) that ended at 2:01 a.m. last Sunday before reeling off wins over No. 7 Webster, No. 1 Wisconsin-Whitewater and two over Rhodes College (Tennessee) to win the NCAA DIII Central Regional to advance to the program’s first national championship tournament where they are now 2-0 after the win on Saturday. The seven-game streak is the longest of the season.

PATRIOT POINTS: Misericordia is Latin for “mercy.” Misericordia is a four-year, Catholic, co-educational liberal arts university located on a 100-acre campus in Dallas, Pennsylvania, near the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton within the Diocese of Scranton. It was founded by the Religious Sisters of Mercy on Aug. 15, 1924. 

NCAA Division III Baseball World Series

Fox Cities Stadium

Appleton, Wis.

Double-Elimination

All Times Central

Friday’s Games

Bracket One

Game 1: UT Tyler 10, Oswego State (New York) 5

Game 2: Misericordia (Pennsylvania) 4, Randolph-Macon (Virginia) 2

Bracket Two

Game 3: Concordia-Chicago (Illinois) 9, Swarthmore (Pennsylvania) 4

Game 4: Texas Lutheran (38-9) 7, Wooster (Ohio) (40-8) vs.

Saturday’s Games

Game 5: Randolph-Macon 11, Oswego State 4; Oswego State (30-15), eliminated

Game 6: UT Tyler 7, Misericordia 3

Game 7: Swarthmore (37-10) vs. Wooster (40-9)

Game 8: Concordia-Chicago (39-13) vs. Texas Lutheran (39-9)

Sunday’s Games

Game 9: Misericordia (37-14) vs. Randolph-Macon (36-8-1), 10 a.m.

Game 10: Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 7, 1:15 p.m.

Game 11: UT Tyler (37-17)  vs. Winner Game 9, 4:30 p.m.

Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10, 7:45 p.m.

Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11, noon, if necessary

Game 14: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12, noon or 3:30 p.m., if necessary

National Championship Series

Game 1: Bracket One winner vs. Bracket Two winner, TBD

Game 2: Bracket One winner vs. Bracket Two winner, TBD

Game 3: Bracket One winner vs. Bracket Two winner, TBD, if necessary