MADISONVILLE, Texas -- UT Tyler followed up Friday's season-opening victory with another big win, as the NCAA Division II No. 4-ranked Patriots rallied from an early deficit again with an outstanding offensive performance to pull away for a 10-3 win Saturday.
Haleigh Swinney and
Ashley Perez each went 3-for-4, and Perez added 4 RBIs while
Mak Dominguez hit the Patriots' first home run of the year with a fourth-inning 2-run shot.
Erin Hill notched 6 strikeouts in 6 innings to pick up the victory.
With the victory, UT Tyler is now 2-0 to start the 2021 season, while Montevallo drops to 0-4.
How It Happened: For the second straight game, Mariel Bertossi delivered a leadoff hit and scored in the first inning for Montevallo. Bertossi hit a leadoff double and scored on a Hannah Carey base hit up the middle. The Falcons added a second run in the frame to take a 2-0 lead, but UT Tyler got one of those runs back in the bottom of the first on
Ashley Perez's RBI single to right field.
In the second inning,
Tristin Anders hit a 2-out single to left, and
Haleigh Swinney beat out a bunt for a base hit, drawing a wild throw to first that rolled into the right field corner to allow both Anders and Swinney to score on the error. Perez added a 2-out RBI double to give UT Tyler a 4-2 lead, and the Patriots added 3 more in the fourth on another Perez RBI double and
Mak Dominguez's line drive over the fence in left-center for a two-run home run to extend the lead to 7-3.
Shelby Hughston pushed the margin to 8-3 with her fifth-inning sacrifice fly, and Perez dropped a squeeze bunt back to the pitcher to score Swinney from third to make it 9-3. Swinney drove in another run in the sixth by beating out an infield single, which allowed
Michelle Arias to score from third.
Inside The Box Score: After scoring all 12 of its runs with two outs Friday, UT Tyler scored four more with two outs in Saturday's win… As a team, UT Tyler is batting .471 and averaging 11 runs per game…
Ashley Perez went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and 4 RBIs, and
Haleigh Swinney was 3-for-4 with 3 runs and a walk to help lead the Patriots' offense…
Erin Hill scattered 3 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks with 6 strikeouts in 6 innings of work, and
Chelsea Smith fired a scoreless seventh to finish off the win.
What's Next: UT Tyler is on the road next weekend for four non-conference games at Angelo State's George & Ola McCorkle Challenge in San Angelo, Texas.