TYLER, Texas—The University of Texas at Tyler Softball (22-2) shutout Belhaven University (10-15) in a pair of matches Friday evening at Irwin Field. The Patriots began the day with an 8-0 victory in five innings before making it a doubleheader sweep with another 8-0 win in six innings.
 
In the opening game, senior left-hander Colleen Bentke (Brenham, Texas) tossed her first perfect game in a Patriot uniform. She tossed a pair of no-hitters as a junior but did not allow a baserunner to reach in five innings during Friday's opening game. She threw 62 pitches and struck out a season-nine batters in the outing.
 
Bentke had plenty of run support with the Patriots getting the early lead in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore outfielder Haleigh Swinney (Crosby, Texas) and senior outfielder Nicole Garcia (Sugar Land, Texas) got the inning started with back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. With the bases loaded, three runs came around to score on a throwing error with senior infielder Victoria Gonzales (Elgin, Texas) at the plate. Freshman infielder Chaney Tart (Malakoff, Texas) brought Gonzales home with a sacrifice fly to center field before the end of the inning to put the Patriots ahead 4-0.
 
Senior utility Lynsey Mitchell (Liberty Hill, Texas) and senior outfielder Dariann Resendez (Austin, Texas) continued the scoring in the second inning. Mitchel began the bottom of the inning with a double down the right field line. Resendez followed with a double of her own to right field to score the fifth run of the game.
 
Three more runs scored in the third inning which began with a double to left center field by Victoria Gonzales. Tart drove in her second run of the game with single through the right side to make it a 6-0 UT Tyler lead. Mitchell drove in the final two runs of the contest with her second long ball of the season over the center field wall. Her two-run homerun gave the Patriots their final runs in an 8-0 five inning victory.
 
Mitchell and Garcia both picked up a pair of hits and scored one run while Mitchell and Tart both drove in a pair of runs each. In the circle, Bentke struck out two batters in each of the first four innings on her way to the perfect game.
 
The Patriot took another early lead in the second game of the doubleheader. Swinney and Garcia both reached to lead off the bottom of the first on a walk and bunt single. With one out, Victoria Gonzales double to left center field driving in both runners and giving UT Tyler an early 2-0 lead.
 
Over the first five innings, the Patriots faced just two batter over the minimum before adding to their lead in the bottom of the fifth. The first four batters of the inning all reached on a base knock beginning with Resendez who was driven in by sophomore catcher Ashley Perez (Pflugerville, Texas) with a single to right field. With the bases still loaded, Tart was walked to give the Patriots a 4-0 advantage heading into the sixth inning.
 
For the second-consecutive inning, the first four Patriot batters reached base in the bottom of the single inning beginning with a pinch-hit single by freshman infielder Allyssa Young (Franklin, Louisiana) After stealing second base and advancing to third base on a walk to Swinney, she came around to score on a single through the right side by Garcia. Perez followed with a sacrifice bunt to score Swinney from third with the next two batters reaching on a walk and a hit by pitch. Senior infielder Theresa Gonzales (Elgin, Texas) ended the game in the sixth inning with a single just over the head of the Blazer shortstop to plate the eighth run of the ball game.
 
Garcia led the Patriots with a 3-4 game at the plate including two runs scored and two runs-batted-in. She was the only UT Tyler batter in the contest with multiple hits while Perez and Victoria Gonzales also drove in two runs each. On the mound, junior right-handed pitcher Whitney Romero (Lafayette, Louisiana) moved to 9-0 on the season with her second shutout of the season. She allowed just three baserunners in six innings and struck out two batters.
 
The three-game series will come to a close on Saturday afternoon with the finale set for 1 p.m. at Suddenlink Field.