TYLER, TEXAS - #6 UT Tyler will look to extend it's eight game winning streak to open up Lone Star Conference play this weekend in doubleheaders against Texas Woman's and Midwestern State.
The Patriots will have the opportunity to improve on a 6-2 home record at Suddenlink Field with a pair of games against Texas Woman's on Friday beginning at 4 p.m. and a pair of games on Sunday against Midwestern State slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. UT Tyler is tied atop the Lone Star Conference standings alongside #2 Texas A&M-Commerce with an 8-0 record to start out league play.
MOVIN ON UP
UT Tyler softball moved up in the latest 2021 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll for the second straight week into the no. 6 spot in the week six poll. The Patriots enter this week's doubleheaders with a record of 12-4 on the season and have recorded four straight double-header sweeps in Lone Star Conference play.
The Patriots have now moved up in consecutive polls after falling to no. 10 in the week three poll after a tough slate of opponents during the non-conference portion of the 2021 schedule. UT Tyler's eight straight LSC wins also moved the Patriots into the no. 1 spot atop the Lone Star Conference standings in what will be a tight race all the way to the end amongst the six nationally-ranked conference teams.
DOMINATION
UT Tyler came back with vengeance after four losses during the non-conference schedule to open up 2021, and have completely overmatched their first four Lone Star Conference opponents. The Patriots outscored then-no. 17 West Texas A&M, Eastern New Mexico, UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico by an 81-to-12 margin and have run-ruled the opposition in half of those eight wins.
The Patriots have totaled 10 or more runs in five of those eight wins and have won by five or more runs in all but one of those contests.
HEATING UP IN LEAGUE PLAY
Serena Saldivar,
Amanda Marek and
Ashley Perez have all notched batting averages of .400 or better in the eight LSC games for the Patriots up to this point. That trio of hitters in the heart of the UT Tyler lineup have combined for 33 RBI in the eight games, an astounding 22 of which have come from Marek.
Marek has hit seven homers in eight Lone Star Conference games so far this season, and has totaled 22 of her 24 season RBI in those conference contests. Those 24 RBI on the year ranks Marek third in the category in the Lone Star Conference while her 22 RBI in LSC play gives the Robinson, Texas native five more RBI than any other batter in the LSC against conference competition.
The Patriots as a whole rank atop the LSC in batting average (.389) runs (81) doubles (23) homeruns (11) and total bases (140) in conference games.
A DYNAMIC DUO
The starting pitching duo of
Payton Foster and
Erin Hill have been amongst the nation's best all season long, and have continued to elevate their play into the conference schedule. The duo has been the main contributors to a staff ERA for the season that ranks 12
th in all of Division II softball at 1.48.
Foster and Hill have gone a combined 14-4 in their 18 starts in 2021, and have tossed 10 complete games and a no hitter.
The Patriots have posted a staff ERA of 1.31 against Lone Star Conference teams, tops amongst the league in conference play. UT Tyler ranks second as a pitching staff with 48 strikeouts against conference competition and has allowed a league-low nine earned runs in 48.0 innings pitched.
HISTORY AGAINST THE PIONEERS AND MUSTANGS
UT Tyler is a combined 4-1 against this weekend's pair of opponents in Texas Woman's (4-9, 3-5 LSC) and Midwestern State (11-9, 4-4 LSC) in the program's second season competing in a Lone Star Conference schedule. The Patriots got the better of Texas Woman's in all three meetings in 2020, the final two games in which were played as conference games.
The Patriots split their road doubleheader last season with Midwestern State with a 5-7 loss and a 9-2 win in Wichita Falls, Texas.
