TYLER, Texas – Ashley Perez put an exclamation point on UT Tyler's 10th consecutive win to start the season, lifting the Patriots past No. 14-ranked Southern Arkansas with a three-run walkoff home run in extra innings Sunday afternoon after spotting the nationally-ranked Muleriders an early 7-0 lead.
The dramatic 11-8 win in 8 innings finished off an impressive set of consecutive weekend tournament performances for UT Tyler, which is in its first season of competition as an NCAA Division II provisional program.
It wasn't its first walkoff victory; that happened a week ago in Las Vegas in a 7-6 victory over Dominican to wrap up a perfect 5-0 weekend to claim the Desert Stinger Classic championship.
It wasn't even the first walkoff home run of the season; that came less than 48 hours earlier off the bat of Serena Saldivar for a two-run shot in a 3-2 victory over Arkansas-Monticello.
It wasn't the first victory of the season over a Division II Top 25 foe; that happened less than 24 hours earlier when the Patriots posted a wild come-from-behind 17-15 win over No. 23 Arkansas Tech.
It was, however, the largest of UT Tyler's eight come-from-behind wins in its first 10 games, and it came in its first extra-innings contest of the year. It came against the Patriots' highest-ranked opponent after facing its largest deficit of the season, and it produced a magical moment unlike any other so far this year for a program which produced 13 consecutive 30-win seasons in Division III before moving up to a full Division II schedule and membership in the highly-regarded Lone Star Conference this season.
The Patriots survived a six-run first-inning onslaught from Southern Arkansas, which pushed another run across in the second for a 7-0 lead before UT Tyler cut into the lead with three-run frames in the second and third innings. The Patriots tied the game in the fifth by scraping together an unearned run on an error, walk, and productive groundouts, then answered a sixth-inning Mulerider home run with a two-out RBI double from Saldivar which tied the game at 8-8 and forced extra innings after a scoreless seventh.
With one out and a runner on in the bottom of the eighth, Saldivar reached base on an error to bring up Perez, who ran the count to 3-0 before cutting loose with the game-winning swing for a three-run opposite-field home run to right-center.
With Sunday's win, UT Tyler improved to 10-0 on the season, while the loss dropped Southern Arkansas to 6-2.
How It Happened: Southern Arkansas jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the first two innings, producing six runs in the first inning alone with two-run home runs from Faith Otts and Sarah Evans before Laina Suesue delivered a two-run, two-out single to push the lead to 6-0. Alese Casper added a two-out RBI single in the top of the second to give the Muleriders an early 7-run cushion.
However, UT Tyler got three of those runs back in the bottom of the second on freshman Amanda Marek's three-run blast to center field, her first home run of the season. The Patriots pushed three more across in the third inning, as Haleigh Swinney's leadoff double was followed by back-to-back one-out RBI doubles from Serena Saldivar and Ashley Perez. A Mak Dominguez groundout for the second out scored Perez from third base to cut the lead to 7-6.
After a scoreless fourth inning, UT Tyler needed only a leadoff error and a walk to produce the game-tying run in the fifth inning. Perez reached on the error to lead off the frame, and she advanced to second with a walk to Allyson Rodriguez. From there, consecutive fielder's choice groundouts up the middle moved Perez up to third and around to score and even the score at 7-7.
Christina Hill put the Muleriders back into the lead with a one-out solo home run in the top of the sixth. However, Swinney beat out an infield hit with one out in the bottom of the sixth and scored on Saldivar's two-out double to right center to tie the game at 8-8. Both teams had a runner in scoring position with one out in the seventh, but neither team could convert it into the go-ahead score, sending the game into extra innings.
UT Tyler pitcher Sarah Gartman kept the ball in the infield for all three outs in the top of the eighth, stranding the baserunner who started the frame on second base due to tiebreaker rules. With Swinney on second to start the bottom of the eighth, Saldivar reached on a dropped fly ball to right field, advancing Swinney to third with just one out. Perez watched three straight pitches out of the strike zone to run the count to 3-0, and with the green light to swing in a 3-0 count, Perez drove the pitch over the fence in right-center for the game-winning three-run walkoff home run.
Miranda Leal and Sarah Gartman combined to allow just one run over the final six innings after Southern Arkansas exploded for seven early runs. Leal surrendered one run on three hits over 4 innings, while Gartman finished the game with 2.1 hitless shutout frames with a pair of strikeouts and two walks to earn the victory.
Ashley Perez (2-for-4) and Amanda Marek (1-for-3) each finished with 4 RBIs, and the Patriots' 11-run, 10-hit attack included 2-hit performances from Haleigh Swinney (2-for-5), Serena Saldivar (2-for-5), and Allyson Rodriguez (2-for-3).
Southern Arkansas' offense was led by Elisa Favela, who went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles to go with home runs from Christina Hill, Faith Otts, and Sarah Evans.
Inside The Box Score: Southern Arkansas entered the game with a 6-1 record which included two wins over Top 25-ranked opponents (#10 Texas A&M-Commerce, #21 Tarleton State) and a lone defeat by one run against #2 Texas A&M-Kingsville… Amanda Marek became the sixth different UT Tyler hitter with a home run this season… Haleigh Swinney batted .563 (9-for-16) with 7 runs and 6 walks in 5 games of tournament action over the weekend, raising her team-leading season batting average to .548… With two hits each in Sunday's victory, Swinney and Serena Saldivar have both hit safely in all 10 games with six multi-hit games so far this year… UT Tyler has come from behind to win 8 of its 10 games so far, including seven wins when trailing or tied after four innings… Miranda Leal appeared in four of UT Tyler's five games over the weekend, picking up two wins and a save while holding opposing hitters to a .212 average in eight innings across those four outings.
What's Next: UT Tyler returns to action on Feb. 19, visiting Texas A&M-Texarkana in the first of two non-conference doubleheaders on the road which lead up the the Patriots' Lone Star Conference opener at home against No. 10-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce on Feb. 28.
Quotable (head coach Mike Reed): "We haven't played perfectly in any one facet of the game, but I think what we've shown is a resiliency and a grit not to give up. We've been in this situation a few times now, and I think the team is learning how to function within that, and today is a good example of that. Early on, we could have had the opportunity to lose our fight, but resiliency and grit is how I'd describe what our strength has been in these first 10 games."
"I think the first weekend, the top of our lineup really led us, and one of the things I'm happiest about this weekend is getting production from the bottom of our lineup, as well. We've turned the lineup a little bit in the last few weeks, and I think that's the unsung part of this weekend, to put nine kids in the lineup who would compete in the batter's box. I think that's a credit to our depth, and the production we got to go along with what we've been getting from the top of the lineup is what helped us this weekend."
Postgame Interview with junior catcher Ashley Perez and sophomore pitcher Sarah Gartman
