TYLER, Texas—The University of Texas at Tyler Softball (12-0) finished off a three-game sweep over McMurry University (7-10) Saturday afternoon with an 8-0 shutout at Suddenlink Field. The Patriots held the War Hawks without a run in all three contest, finishing with a 17-0 run differential in the series.
 
The Patriot offense stayed hot after their eight runs to end Friday's doubleheader. Senior outfielder Nicole Garcia (Sugar Land, Texas) reached on a hit by pitch as the first UT Tyler batter of the game. After stealing second base and a walk to senior infielder Victoria Gonzales (Elgin, Texas), senior infielder Theresa Gonzales (Elgin, Texas) singled to left field and drove in the first run of the game.
 
Three Patriot runs scored on just five pitches in the bottom of the second inning. Senior outfielder Dariann Resendez (Austin, Texas) sent the first pitch she saw into the left field foul pole for her first home run of the season. The final batter in the UT Tyler lineup, sophomore outfielder Haleigh Swinney (Crosby, Texas) was hit by a pitch and stole second base. On the fifth pitch of the inning, Garcia sent a two-run shot over the left field wall for her second homerun of the season. Another run came around the score in the inning on back-to-back doubles by sophomore catcher Ashley Perez (Pflugerville, Texas) and Theresa Gonzalez.
 
The third inning was the only frame where the Patriots did not score a run, already with a 5-0 advantage. They got to their eight-run mark in the bottom of the fourth inning beginning with the third UT Tyler home run of the contest. Theresa Gonzalez recorded her third hit of the game and her third long ball of the season over the center field wall. She also picked up her third RBI on the play to make it 6-0 on the scoreboard. Senior infielder Serena Saldivar (Garland, Texas) reached on a walk as the next batter and moved to third on a double by freshman infielder Chaney Tart (Malakoff, Texas). Resendez picked up her second RBI of the day single that plated the Patriots' eighth and final run.
 
Senior left-handed pitcher Colleen Bentke (Brenham, Texas) moved to 6-0 on the season after four innings of one-hit softball. It was her third combined shutout of the season with her ERA dropping to 1.56 over 36 innings of work. Junior right-handed pitcher Miranda Leal (San Antonio, Texas) came in to pitch the final inning. She closed out the game retiring the War Hawks in order to seal the sweep.
 
Offensively, Gonzales led the offense with three hits in three at-bats. Her three RBI's also led the team along with Resendez who drove in three runs on two hits.
 
The Patriots will now hit the road for seven games beginning with a three-game mid-week series in Austin, Texas against Concordia University Texas. The two teams will face-off in a double header on Tuesday beginning at 4 p.m. before finishing the series on Wednesday at 6 p.m. UT Tyler will then travel to Clearmont, Florida for four games in the Spring games.