WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- No. 2-ranked UT Tyler quickly bounced back from its first setback of the season, producing 14 runs in a doubleheader split at Midwestern State Sunday afternoon. The Patriots scored in six of seven innings of a 9-2 win in the opener and led through five innings in the nightcap before falling, 7-5.
The teams combined for six home runs in the doubleheader, hitting three each. Mak Dominguez hit a fifth-inning grand slam and Amanda Marek added a sixth-inning solo shot in the Game 1 win, while Kylie Brown hit a go-ahead solo home run in the fifth inning of Game 2 before MSU used a three-run sixth-inning home run to come back for a 7-5 win.
Payton Foster threw a complete-game and picked up the win in the opener, scattering two runs on five hits with a pair of strikeouts.
With the split, UT Tyler is now 17-3 overall and 5-3 in Lone Star Conference play. Midwestern State is now 3-19 overall and 1-5 in LSC play.
How It Happened (Game 1): UT Tyler scored single runs in each of the first three innings to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Kylie Brown and Allyson Rodriguez hit RBI singles, and Hanna Fradkin produced the other run on a fielder's choice grounder. Midwestern State scored their only runs of the game in the top of the fourth, cutting the lead to 3-2 on Bailey Brenek's two-run home run.
Payton Foster retired the next eight hitters she faced, finishing the game by retiring 11 of the final 13 Mustangs, and Mak Dominguez smashed a one-out grand slam down the left field line to give the Patriots a 7-2 lead. Amanda Marek added a sixth-inning solo shot to make it 8-2, and Dominguez drove in another run with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly for the final 9-2 margin.
How It Happened (Game 2): Mak Dominguez helped get the offense started in the second game, as well, drawing a four-pitch leadoff walk to start the game before eventually scoring on Serena Saldivar's sacrifice fly to give the Patriots an early 1-0 lead. Midwestern State evened the score with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first, but Tristin Anders and Dominguez came back with consecutive run-scoring doubles in the top of the second, extending the lead to 4-1. Brenek's second home run of the day was a game-tying two-run shot to straightaway center field, tying the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the third.
Kylie Brown led off the fifth inning with a solo home run to left, giving UT Tyler a 5-4 lead, but Lauren Lindgren hit a two-out, three-run home run to give Midwestern State its first lead of the day, 7-5. Marek and Brown drew back-to-back one-out walks, putting the potential tying run in scoring position, but MSU starting pitcher Mattye Tyler got a fly out and strikeout to finish off the complete-game win for the Mustangs.
Inside The Box Score: In three straight games batting leadoff, Mak Dominguez batted 5-for-11 with two doubles, a home run, three runs scored, and nine RBIs… Dominguez has driven in at least two runs in all three of those games batting leadoff… Six different Patriots now have at least two home runs this season, as Kylie Brown hit her third home run while Dominguez and Amanda Marek have two each.
What's Next: UT Tyler will make up a non-conference doubleheader at Texas A&M-Texarkana on Tuesday, March 10, at 3 p.m., before resuming Lone Star Conference play this weekend starting with a Friday, March 13, doubleheader against Eastern New Mexico.
