TYLER, TEXAS - #8 UT Tyler jumped out to first inning leads and never looked back in either win over Western New Mexico on Monday afternoon to move to 8-0 in Lone Star Conference play.
The 8-1 and 14-6 wins over Western New Mexico make for the second straight weekend sweep for the Patriots to begin conference play after sweeps against West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico last week and UT Permian Basin on Friday. The Patriots had extra-base hits on 13 of their 22 hits for the day with 10 doubles and three homers.
Ashley Perez notched the first of her three doubles on the day in game one for the Patriots as both teams finally got on the field in Silver City, N.M. after the doubleheader was postponed until this morning due to inclement weather in the area. Perez scored
Haleigh Swinney on that first inning double to left field as UT Tyler would score in the top of the first inning in both contests on the day.
Perez came around to score after Kyle Mach reached on an error by the Mustang shortstop to double the advantage to 2-1. Perez finished the day with three hits, all of which were doubles, and three runs scored.
Mak Dominguez hit a solo homer in the top of the third to answer a run from Western New Mexico in the second inning to reestablish a two-run Patriot advantage.
Serena Saldivar kept that inning going with a double that scored both Mach and
Amanda Marek and moved the advantage to 5-1.
Marek iced the game in the top of the sixth with a three-run homer that drove in Perez and Swinney to pad an 8-1 lead which would eventually register as the final score of game number one. That homer led Marek to a team-high five RBI on the day.
Payton Foster allowed no earned runs to cross home plate in her start in game number one, striking out six along the way while scattering six hits allowed to the Mustangs. The Lufkin, Texas native has posted a 6-3 record thus far in 2021 and has recorded an ERA of just 1.15.
Swinney once again crossed home plate for the first run in game number, getting her big second game started in which she went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI.
A tight 3-2 contest entering the fourth inning turned into an offensive slugfest for both clubs as they combined for 13 runs in the fourth frame alone. UT Tyler broke the game open with nine of those runs in the top half of the inning, thanks to doubles by Mach, Marek and Saldivar as well as a two-run homer from
Shae Harris.
12 batters came to the plate for UT Tyler in that fourth inning as Mach got the rally started with a double to right field that would serve as the first of three doubles in four batters that scored two runs each for UT Tyler. Marek and Saldivar extended the lead to 9-2 with those extra-base hits before the Harris two-run homer notched the seventh hit and plated the eighth and ninth runs of the inning.
UT Tyler needed two additional runs to enact the rune rule after a four-run bottom half of the fourth inning for Western New Mexico, and did just that thanks to Perez's third double of the afternoon that scored Swinney for her fifth run of the day and a costly fielding mistake from the Mustangs that allowed Marek to score to bring the score to a 14-6 final tally.
Erin Hill picked up her eighth win of the season, going 3.0 innings before giving way to
Sarah Gartman and
Chelsea Smith in the fourth. Smith came on and was electric in her 2.0 innings of work, striking out five of the eight batters she faced to close out the contest.
Swinney finished the day 5-for-8 and crossed home plate fives while Marek led the way with five RBI and scored four times herself while going 2-for-6. Perez, Saldivar and Mach all registered three hits for the day while Saldivar and Mach each had four RBI.
UT Tyler will look to extend the eight-game win streak to begin Lone Star Conference play this weekend with doubleheaders against Texas Woman's and Midwestern State beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Sunday at Suddenlink Field.
