By CHASE UPTON/Sports Editor
CARY, North Carolina — The final out brought an end to UT Tyler’s season Wednesday afternoon, but it could not erase what the Patriots accomplished over the previous six months.
West Chester scored four runs in the eighth inning to rally past UT Tyler 6-5 in the NCAA Division II National Semifinal at the USA Baseball National Training Complex, ending the greatest season in program history just two wins shy of the national championship series.
The loss closed the book on a remarkable 50-14 campaign that saw the Patriots establish new standards across the board.
UT Tyler captured its first Lone Star Conference regular-season championship, first Lone Star Conference Tournament championship, first 50-win season, second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II College World Series and first appearance in the national semifinals.
That alone represented a milestone for a program that has steadily climbed the national ranks under head coach Brent Porche.
“They’ve done what we’ve strived to do every year which is just continue to raise the bar,” Porche said. “This team certainly did that.”
For much of Wednesday afternoon, it looked like the Patriots might extend their stay in Cary for at least one more day.
Trailing 2-1 entering the fifth, UT Tyler pulled even at 2-2 when senior Travis Bragg crushed a solo home run to right field.
The Patriots then seized control in the seventh.
After Connor Clark and Tanner Hornback reached base, senior Kaston Mason wasted little time welcoming a new pitcher to the mound for the Golden Rams.
On the first pitch he saw, Mason launched a 113 mph three-run home run that crashed off the right-field scoreboard, giving UT Tyler a 5-2 lead and seemingly putting the Patriots in position to force a rematch with West Chester on Thursday.
Mason finished 2-for-3 with that home run, four RBIs and two walks in the final game of his collegiate career.
On the mound, fellow senior Dylan Blomquist delivered one of the grittiest performances of his career, throwing 130 pitches across 7 1/3 innings while exiting the game having only allowed two runs on just four hits.
In the postgame press conference, Porche spoke of the two veterans sitting beside him.
“I think it says alot about these two guys sitting next to me (Mason and Blomquist) that they played their absolute best baseball of their careers here in the last two weeks.”
But baseball can be cruel.
West Chester loaded the bases in the eighth inning and capitalized on a combination of walks and timely hits to score four runs and take a 6-5 lead.
The Patriots threatened but could not find the tying run. When the final out settled into a West Chester glove, UT Tyler’s season was over.
“Baseball is baseball, sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t,” Porche said.
Despite the defeat, the Patriots out-hit West Chester 13-5.
Connor Clark finished 3-for-5, Tanner Hornback added two hits, Drew Schmidt collected three hits, Bryce Jewell doubled and Travis Bragg homered.
The loss marked the end of a postseason run defined by resilience.
The Patriots won four elimination games during the postseason, repeatedly responding when their season was on the line. During those victories, UT Tyler hit .365 with a .468 on-base percentage while scoring 37 runs and collecting 57 hits.
Time and again, the Patriots found ways to answer adversity.
“It’s unfortunate, obviously we wanted to leave here with a national championship and we didn’t quite get that done, but I couldn’t be more proud of this group of guys and the fight that they’ve showed all year long, the buy in that they have,” Porche said. “it’s about more than just the game. It’s about so much more than that. These guys are gonna be elite in life, they’re gonna be great husbands, they’re gonna be great fathers and they’re gonna be great leaders because they’ve put themselves in a position to do so when this game is over.”
As the season came to a close, it also marked the end of one of the most accomplished senior classes in program history.
Senior right-hander Caden Copeland made an immediate impact in his lone season at UT Tyler after transferring from the Division I ranks, finishing as one of the Patriots’ most reliable arms during a historic 2026 campaign. The first-team All-Lone Star Conference selection went 6-1 with a 4.01 ERA across 16 starts.
Blomquist and Julio Garcia also leave behind historic legacies on the mound.
Garcia finished his four-year Patriot career earning LSC Pitcher of the Year and First-Team All LSC honors after posting an 8-2 regular-season record and a conference-best 2.55 ERA while helping anchor the league’s top pitching staff.
Blomquist, meanwhile, completed a five-year career in Tyler that saw him become one of the winningest and most durable starting pitchers in program history. He leaves UT Tyler as the program’s career leader in starts while compiling a 27-8 record and a 4.46 ERA across his Patriots career.
On the offensive side, senior catcher Cole Ketzner made history as the first Lone Star Conference Player of the Year in program history, leading the Patriots with 13 home runs and 69 RBIs while serving as a central force in one of the most dangerous lineups in Division II baseball.
Kaston Mason leaves UT Tyler as arguably the most accomplished hitter in program history.
Over four seasons in a Patriots uniform, the slugger posted a .329 career batting average and a remarkable 1.065 OPS while becoming the program’s all-time leader in games played, home runs, RBIs, total bases and intentional walks (for obvious reasons).
Mason appeared in more than 200 games during his collegiate career and leaves Tyler as the owner of nearly every major offensive record in the program’s history.
Kaston’s seventh-inning homer on Wednesday, a 113 mph blast that crashed off the right-field scoreboard, provided one last signature moment for the UT Tyler career home run king.
Bryce Jewell’s career deserves recognition as well.
The senior first baseman from Bullard,TX transferred to UT Tyler from Abilene Christian because he loved the coaching staff and wanted to be closer to home so his family could watch him play.
Over four seasons, Jewell became a key contributor to the most successful stretch in program history, finishing just shy of a .300 career batting average while recording more than 40 extra-base hits and over 100 career RBIs.
As the season came to a close, Coach Porche’s thoughts drifted away from wins, losses and championships and toward the relationships built over years together.
“It’s not easy to do what these guys do. Class, work, weights. We demand a lot of them not just physically, but mentally, every single day for a long time and it’s hard to show up everyday and do what they do,” Porche said.
The 10th year skipper credited his players for embracing the expectations that helped transform the program into a national contender.
“I’m really blessed to have a group of guys that really trusted us and trusted the process to do whatever we needed to do to put ourselves in a position to be here,” Porche said.
Then, as he reflected on the seniors whose careers ended Wednesday, the conversation became less about baseball and more about family.
“These guys are like my own kids,” Porche said, his voice beginning to crack. “You know, my family’s here, traveling all over the world with us, and the thing that sucks the most when it’s all over is that you don’t get to see them every day anymore. Some of them have been with us for four and five years, and obviously you grow close when you’re together as much as we are.”
“But the thing that I know is we’ll always be a family. I love getting to see these guys grow up and get married, have kids and see the success they have in their lives. They don’t know and probably never will know how much they do for me, just the people they are in my life and how much they really mean to me and my family. Very appreciative of each and every one of these guys for everything they’ve done for me and my family.”
That sentiment may ultimately define the 2026 Patriots as much as any championship banner or record book entry every could.
This was a team that won 50 games for the first time in program history, claimed the first Lone Star Conference regular-season championship and conference tournament championship in program history. A team that returned to the College World Series for a second consecutive season. A team that reached the national semifinals for the first time ever and spent much of the postseason proving it belonged among the nation’s elite.
The Patriots season may have ended Wednesday afternoon in Cary, but the legacy of the 2026 Patriots will endure for years to come.
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