KINGSVILLE, TEXAS - #5 UT Tyler got back to action on Friday afternoon with the club's sixth and seventh wins over a top-25 nationally-ranked opponent in 7-2 and 5-4 wins over #12 Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
UT Tyler extended their advantage at the top of the Lone Star Conference standings with the pair of road wins, as their 17-1 record in LSC play has padded a two-game lead over #13 Oklahoma Christian and #4 Texas A&M-Commerce after the conclusion of today's game across the league. Payton Foster picked up the win in the 7-2 game one win and then came on in relief of game two number starter Erin Hill to pick up the save in the game two 5-4 win after a late Texas A&M-Kingsville rally.
 
Foster picked up the complete game win to move her season record to 10-3 on the year in the game one victory, tossing 7.0 innings while allowing just a pair of earned runs to the Javelinas. The Lufkin, Texas native then picked up her first save of the 2021 campaign in game number two, putting an end to a four run bottom of the sixth inning for the Javelinas.
 
She worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh to notch win number seven for the Patriots over a ranked opponent in that save, and allowed Hill to pick up her 13^th win of the season after surrendering two earned runs in her 5.2 innings of work.
 
The Patriots were efficient at the plate in the game one victory in offensive support of Foster, scoring seven runs on just eight hits. The scoring kicked off for UT Tyler after a weekend off last weekend from conference play with three runs in the top of the second after a run in the opening frame for Texas A&M-Kingsville opened up a 1-0 advantage for the home squad.
 
Those three runs started with three free bases for the Patriots on a pair of leadoff walks and then a hit by pitch as Bayli Simon, Kyla Mach and Shae Harris loaded the bases with Patriot runners. Mak Dominguez scored Simon from third on a fielder's choice to even up the ballgame at 1-1 before a Courtney Plocheck double off the centerfield wall scored Mach and Dominguez to build the 3-1 Patriot lead after the first two innings of play.
 
Dominguez drove in her second run of the afternoon in the top of the fourth to continue to keep the Patriot offense rolling in game number one, scoring Simon once again with a single to right center. Simon led off the inning with a walk once again to give the UT Tyler offense options with runners on.
 
Shelby Hughston forced the Javelina defense into a decision with a sacrifice bunt that allowed Harris to score for the second Patriot run of the inning. UT Tyler was able to score two more runs in the top of the seventh to provide insurance for Foster to complete her stellar outing with a 7-2 advantage.
 
UT Tyler continued to get runners on base to start out game number two, as the Patriots once again manufactured a pair of leadoff walks in the first to kick-start a four run opening frame. Plocheck scored after getting on by the first of those two walks to start off the frame on a wild pitch, before Amanda Marek cashed in a pair of runs with a double down the rightfield line to build a 3-0 early lead. An error on the Javelina defense allowed the fourth run of the frame to cross home plate as Marek scored from second on the overthrow at first base by the Javelina shortstop on a ball put in play by Hanna Fradkin.
 
Hill allowed just two hits in the second through her first five innings of work before running into trouble in the sixth with the Patriots still firmly ahead 5-0 thanks to a Shelby Hughston homer to leadoff the fourth. Foster came in to save the day for the Patriots after four runs crossed for the Javelinas to cut the Patriot lead down to just a single run at 5-4.
 
Foster walked the first batter she faced to load the bases for the Javelinas in what could have been a disastrous inning for UT Tyler, before striking out her second batter of the inning to get the Patriots out of the jam with the one-run lead still in tact.
 
She finished off her relief appearance by working around a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh to notch the 5-4 win for the Patriots.
 
UT Tyler will continue their road trip down south with a doubleheader against Texas A&M International on Sunday afternoon beginning at 11 a.m.