By CHASE UPTON/Sports Editor
The University of Texas at Tyler’s baseball team made history this year, reaching the NCAA Division II College World Series for the first time since moving to DII in 2021 and finishing the year with a school-record 49 wins.
They earned their spot on DII college baseball’s biggest stage by sweeping both their NCAA South Central Regional at home at Irwin Field and the Super Regional on the road against Lone Star Conference rival and — at the time the No. 1-ranked team — Angelo State University.
In their World Series opener, Tyler fell 4-1 to Northwest Nazarene University (46-16) despite collecting eight hits. Justin Williams provided the lone run for the Patriots with a solo home run in the ninth inning, setting a new program record with 15 homers in a season.
With their season on the line in game two, the Patriots bounced back. They beat Felician University (43-22) by a score of 6-2, thanks to strong pitching from senior Kyle Froehlich and a big three-run home run from Drew Schmidt.
UT Tyler’s offense was rolling, finishing with 12 hits. Reliever senior Nick Niebur shut the door by finishing the final three innings without giving up a run and only allowing one baserunner.
In their final game, UT Tyler ran into a powerhouse. They lost 8-1 to the University of Tampa (55-10), the No. 1 seed in the World Series and defending national champions. The Patriots played well early, with senior pitcher Miles Clack striking out 10 batters and keeping the game tied at 1-1 through six innings. Tampa exploded for seven runs in the seventh inning to take control and never looked back.
Tampa went on to win the national championship, defeating No. 2 Central Missouri (48-13). After losing game one 9-8, the Spartans came back to win the next two games 10-8 and 11-5.
Tampa became the first team to win back-to-back Division II baseball championships since their run in 2006 and 2007. This was the program’s 10th national title, the most of any Division II school.
Even though the Patriots didn’t come home with a national championship, the 2025 season was a major step forward.
Under the leadership of head coach Brent Porche, the team proved they could compete on the biggest stage in Division II baseball and showed the rest of the country what their program is all about. The 2025 season may be over, but the foundation has been set, and it’s clear the Patriots are building something special.
