TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler softball team got play started in the Irwin Classic with a 7-0 win over Our Lady of the Lake at Suddenlink Field on Friday night.
 
Payton Foster tossed five shutout innings, striking out five Saints along the way, as #4 UT Tyler moved to 5-2 on the season. Kyla Mach went 3-for-3 with a double and a homerun, recording three RBI's in the contest, as the Patriots recorded 12 hits for the game.
 
Mach got the scoring started in the bottom of the second with a double to right field that scored pinch-runner Amanda Marek to put the Patriots up 1-0. Foster worked out of a runners on second and third jam in the top half of the second frame, retiring the next three batters in order to allow for the Patriot offense to go to work and take the advantage in the bottom half of the inning.
 
Foster worked around a lead-off single in the top of the third before UT Tyler managed to break the game open in the bottom of the third with a 5-0 advantage. Haleigh Swinney leadoff that bottom half of the third with a single and advanced to second after Tristin Anders was hit by a pitch on the next at bat, setting UT Tyler up with runners on first and second with nobody out.
 
Ashley Perez moved both runners over on a fly-out to rightfield, followed by a Serena Saldivar walk that loaded the bases. A throwing error by the Saints scored Anders from second after a sacrifice fly to rightfield from Marek brought Swinney home to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
Mak Dominguez kept the rally going for the Patriots with a single to left center that scored Saldivar. Another costly error by the Saints allowed Dominguez to score all the way from first base following a single by Mach to extend the lead to 5-0 after three completed innings.
 
UT Tyler moved runners to second and third in their next trip to the plate, but couldn't find a way to score for the third consecutive frame.
 
Foster once again managed to end a scoring threat for the Saints in the fifth with runners on second and third with just a single out, grounding out and then flying out the next two batters to end her night without conceding a single run. Mach hit a homer to dead center in the bottom of the fifth to post her second and third RBI's of the night in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Foster gave way to Sarah Gartman for the sixth inning of work, as the sophomore struck out the first two batters she faced and then lined out the third batter of the frame to retire the side in order. Morgan McAlexander saw her first action of 2021 in the circle in the top of the seventh, maintaining the shutout for the Patriot pitching staff.
 
Foster picked up the win for the Patriots to move her overall record to 2-2 for the season, and now sports a .89 ERA through 23.2 innings of work for the season. Mach, Swinney, Perez and Dominguez all recorded multiple hits in the Patriots fifth win of 2021.
 
UT Tyler will meet Our Lady of the Lake for the first of two games scheduled for tomorrow in day number two of the Irwin Classic. First pitch for that contest is set for 12:30 tomorrow afternoon, followed by a 5:30 p.m. meeting with Rogers State for UT Tyler. A location for those games will be determined based on field conditions in the area.