MARSHALL, Texas—The University of Texas at Tyler Softball (30-2) defeated No. 2 East Texas Baptist University (32-3) Thursday evening to hand the Tigers their second straight loss. The Patriot victory marks 15 straight wins which includes for-consecutive three-game sweeps of American Southwest Conference opponents.
 
It was a pitcher's duel from the beginning with neither team recording a baserunner in the first inning. Senior left-hander Colleen Bentke (Brenham, Texas) got the start in the circle and retired the first six batters she faced including a strikeout to begin the second inning.
 
The scoring started in the third inning when senior infielder Victoria Gonzales (Elgin, Texas) sent a ball over the wall in left center field. Her fifth homerun of the season came with two outs and was the first hit of the ball game for either team. The Tigers answered in the home half of the inning with a two-out long ball of their own to tie the game at one run each.
 
UT Tyler threatened to regain the lead in the top of the fourth inning when senior infielder Theresa Gonzales (Elgin, Texas) led off with a single down the left field line. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior infielder Serena Saldivar (Garland, Texas) before the next two batters reached on walks to load the bases. The Patriots were unable to bring a runner across, but they did strand two ETBU runners on the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning.
 
After the Tigers put the leadoff batter on base to begin the bottom of the fifth inning, a triple plated the second ETBU run of the game. In their turn at the plate in the sixth inning, the Patriots failed to reach base but mounted their comeback bid in the top of the seventh. Sophomore infielder Mak Dominguez (Austin, Texas) and freshman outfielder Haleigh Swinney (Crosby, Texas) recorded back-to-back singles while Victoria Gonzales was walked with two outs to load the bases. Sophomore catcher Ashley Perez (Pflugerville, Texas) played the role of hero with a two-RBI single to center field that gave the Patriots s 3-2 lead.
 
The Tigers would not go down without a fight in the bottom of the seventh inning. A pair of walks and a single loaded the bases with two outs brought junior right-hander Whitney Romero (Lafayette, Louisiana) into the circle after junior right-hander Miranda Leal (San Antonio, Texas) had pitched the previous 2.1 innings. Despite the ETBU batter getting ahead, 3-1, in the count, Romero forced a groundout to third base to seal the Patriot road victory over the ranked Tigers.
 
Leal recorded the win on the mound and now owns a 3-0 record for the season and a 1.83 earned run average. She allowed just two hits and struck out two batters in Thursday's outing. Romero earned her second save of the season after recording the game's final out. At the plate, five different Patriots recorded hits led by Perez with her go-ahead two-RBI single and the Victoria Gonzales homerun for the game's first run.
 
The three-game series will conclude Friday afternoon with a doubleheader set to begin at 2 p.m.