OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA. – #3 UT Tyler finished up their 2021 schedule on Tuesday afternoon with a pair of losses by final scores of 6-1 and 1-0 at the hands of #6 Oklahoma Christian on Tuesday afternoon.
 
With the Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship already in hand following Saturday's doubleheader sweep of #9 Texas A&M-Commerce, UT Tyler finished the 2021 campaign with a 9-5 record in 14 games against top 25 nationally-ranked foes with the two losses. Starter Erin Hill allowed just a single run in game number two and Payton Foster extended her streak of innings without allowing a hit to 10 in game one to wrap up a stellar season in the circle for both Patriots.
 
Foster (1.11) and Hill (1.15) finished the regular season ranked first and second in the LSC in ERA and proved week in and week out to be a top pitching duo in all of Division II softball.
 
Foster worked through the first three innings in game one without allowing a single hit, extending her streak to 10 straight innings without allowing a hit to a nationally-ranked foe dating back to Saturday's no hitter against Texas A&M-Commerce. The Lufkin, Texas native ran into trouble in her final innings in the circle, conceding four earned runs over her 5.1 innings of work to be credited with just her fourth loss of the season.
 
Oklahoma Christian broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth of that first contest, and added five more in their final two trips to the plate to secure the 6-1 win. UT Tyler loaded the bases in both the first and fifth innings, but scored their only run of the contest after Shelby Hughston was hit by a pitch in that fifth inning.
 
Haleigh Swinney led the effort at the plate in game one for the Patriots with a pair of hits in her three at bats. Shae Harris and Hannah Fradkin each recorded a hit in the effort as well for UT Tyler.
 
The Patriots continued to battle stellar pitching by Oklahoma Christian in game two, recording their first hit of the contest on a two-out double by Ashley Perez in the top of the sixth inning. Hughston led off the final trip to the plate in the seventh with a leadoff single, but couldn't find a way home to end the contest at 1-0 in favor of the Eagles.
 
Hill allowed just four hits in her complete game effort, striking out six along the way, and gave up her lone blemish of the contest on a leadoff triple in the top of the second. That triple for Oklahoma Christian was cashed in a batter later on a ground out to second to serve as the difference in the game.
 
UT Tyler finished the 2021 season, their first full season of play at the Division II level, with a record of 27-3 in conference play and a 33-7 overall record. The Patriots claimed the Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship with a .900 winning percentage in Lone Star Conference play, and will surely be in line for a host of league awards in the coming weeks