ODESSA, TEXAS - #8 UT Tyler made it six-straight wins to open up their 2021 Lone Star Conference schedule with 4-1 and 11-0 road wins over UT Permian Basin on Friday afternoon.
 
Payton Foster and Erin Hill threw 14.0 combined innings of one-run softball to pick up a pair of complete game efforts against the Falcons. The UT Tyler bats ended the day on a high note, plating 10 runs in the final two frames in game number two to end the contest after five innings, the third run-rule for the Patriots over the course of the last four contests.
 
Foster allowed just three hits in her seven innings thrown in the 4-1 game one victory, recovering after an earned run allowed in the bottom of the first to allow just two hits through the final six innings. Hill made it 10 straight innings without giving up an earned run dating back to last Sunday's no-hitter against Eastern New Mexico, conceding just four hits in her seven innings of work in game number two.
 
Ashley Perez put the Patriots on the board in the top of the first in game one after crossing home plate on an error by the Falcons right fielder after an Amanda Marek single. UT Tyler negated the lone run allowed by Foster on the day in the top of the second, once again capitalizing on a mistake by UT Permian Basin, as Grace Davis scored on a Falcon wild pitch to put the Patriots ahead 2-1.
 
Mak Dominguez broke open the first Lone Star Conference road test of the year for UT Tyler in the top of the fourth with a two-RBI single that scored Shae Smith and Bayli Simon. That three-run advantage was all Foster would need as she worked around a pair of singles spread out amongst the final four trips to the plate for UT Permian Basin to finish the complete game.
 
Marek once again had a hand in opening the scoring for the Patriots in game number two, driving in Haleigh Swinney with a single to left field. Hill cruised through the first three frames in the circle for UT Tyer before a two-out Patriot rally in the top of the fourth broke the game open with a 4-0 UT Tyler lead.
 
Avery Farr came on to pinch hit with two outs and capitalized on the opportunity with a two-out double to right center that drove in Serena Saldivar and Kyle Mach. Kylie Brown put the ball in play on the ensuing at bat to score Farr on an error by the Falcon third baseman to finish off the three-run frame for the Patriots.
 
Marek got the first two of seven runs in the top of the fifth for UT Tyler around on a two-run homer to right center, the sixth homer for the Robinson, Texas native in her last six games. The Patriots followed that shot by Marek with four doubles in the inning to plate the seven runs needed to enact the run-rule following the fifth inning.
 
Hill struck out six in her five innings of work while the Patriot offense racked up 12 hits for the game.
 
Marek led the way with three RBI on the day while Farr and Simon had a pair of RBI in game number two and Dominguez recorded the lone two RBI for the Patriots in game number one. Perez went 3-for-6 on the day and scored twice while Marek continued to stay hot at the plate for the Patriots with three hits in her five at bats, including the three-run homer in game two.
 
The two wins are the sixth straight victories for UT Tyler to open up Lone Star Conference play, establishing the Patriots as one of four teams to begin the 2021 conference schedule at 6-0.
 
UT Tyler will continue their trip out west on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader at Western New Mexico at 11:00 a.m.