TYLER, TEXAS - #1 UT Tyler will return to the diamond for their second non-conference tournament of the season this weekend at the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in Bentonville, Ark.
 
The Patriots will compete in five games, two scheduled for Friday and Saturday and a single game on Sunday, fresh off of a 5-0 performance last weekend at the 2022 Arkansas Tech Invitational to begin their campaign with five non-conference wins. UT Tyler will meet Drury and Quincy on Friday afternoon, Missouri-St. Louis and Upper Iowa on Saturday afternoon, and Emporia State on Sunday to complete the weekend.
 
Game times are set for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. for the single game on Sunday.
 
AN OPENING WEEKEND STATEMENT
 
UT Tyler finished last weekend's opening tournament of the year with a perfect 5-0 record, outscoring their opponents by a 51-to-12 margin, and collected a pair of wins over nationally-ranked opponents in the premier softball tournament of opening weekend at the Arkansas Tech Invitational. The Patriots ended two of those wins in just five innings against Southern Nazarene and #20 Central Oklahoma, and hit .448 as a team over the course of the five games.
 
The Patriots had 65 hits in the five victories, 24 of which were for extra bases, and had three individuals in seniors Bayli Simon and Ashley Perez and sophomore Courtney Plocheck finish with batting averages north of .500 while starting in all five games. Simon led that group with a .625 average, going 10-for-16 for the weekend with four doubles and eight RBI, while Perez matched the team-high with 10 RBI and a pair of homers while hitting a perfect .500 in her 18 at bats.
 
Five different arms saw action in the circle for the Patriots, and featured a pair of solid starts from senior Sarah Gartman and freshman Kaylee Davis. Gartman tossed four innings without conceding an earned run in the 12-2 victory over Southern Nazarene, while Davis tossed a complete game shutout against #25 Central Missouri in her first collegiate start.
 
2022 Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Year Payton Foster also shined over the weekend, appearing in three games while picking up a 3-0 record with 15.2 innings thrown. Foster struckout 11 in her three outings, and posted a complete game effort in the season opener against Harding, allowing just a single earned run in the 9-2 win.
 
PATRIOTS IN THE POLL
 
Last weekend's eye-opening performance in the first weekend of softball confirmed UT Tyler's no. 1 ranking in the NFCA Division II Top 25 Preseason Poll. The 2022 preseason poll marks the first time the Patriots reached the no. 1 spot in the poll after rising to no. 2 in both the 2021 and 2020 seasons.
 
The Lone Star Conference led the way with five nationally-ranked programs in the poll, including West Texas A&M, who came in at no. 4. Joining UT Tyler and West Texas A&M were Oklahoma Christian (no. 15), Angelo State (no. 18), and Texas A&M-Commerce (no. 22).
 
The Patriots were one of three teams to receive a first-place vote, joining Augustana (no. 2) and Biola (no. 3). West Texas A&M came in at no. 4 following the three first-place vote receiving teams, followed by North Georgia (no. 5) to round out the top five.
 
The University of Texas at Tyler softball program was also tabbed as preseason favorites in the 2022 Lone Star Conference Softball Preseason Poll, while Foster was selected as the league's Preseason Pitcher of the Year. The Patriots came in at no. 1 in the poll as voted upon by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media representatives and earned 654 total votes after garnering 22 of the 43 available first-place votes.
 
West Texas A&M came in right behind UT Tyler in the no. 2 slot with 629 total votes, and earned 16 first-place votes after claiming last year's national crown with a record of 43-12 on the year. Angelo State came in at no. 3 in this season's preseason poll with 571 votes, followed by Oklahoma Christian (no. 4) and Texas A&M-Commerce (no. 5) to round out the top five.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS LOOK
 
UT Tyler finished the opening weekend ranked within the top 5 of seven different offensive categories across the Division II landscape. The Patriots led all of Division II softball with an on-base percentage of .523, and sit fourth in total runs (51) and slugging percentage (.703).
 
UT Tyler sits fifth in the country in doubles with 16, and also drew the fifth most hit by pitches with eight across their five games played. Perez and freshman Maddie Melton rank in a tie for seventh in the nation with 10 RBI, while Simon's four doubles sits fourth in Division II softball.
 
HEAD COACH MIKE REED
 
Coach Reed began his 18^th season as head coach of the Patriots, and 21^st season as a head softball coach at the collegiate level in 2022.
 
Reed ranks fourth among all NCAA divisions in career winning percentage (.825), posting a 755-159 career mark through 21 career seasons. He owns the second-highest all-time win percentage among Division III coaches, coaching 18 of his 20 seasons at the Division III level, and is a nine-time American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year, and seven-time NFCA Regional Coach of the Year.
 
He has helped develop 29 All-Americans, 83 all-region and 142 all-conference selections and led the UT Tyler program to the NCAA national tournament in seven of 11 years since the Patriots became postseason eligible in Division III.
 
Reed and his staff have been named the Regional Coaching Staff of the Year by the NFCA on seven different occasions (2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021).
 
Reed is 32-6 over the last two seasons in Lone Star Conference games, and guided the Patriots to a 50-10 record in their two transition seasons against Division II competition in 2020 and 2021.
 
Prior to those two seasons, Reed and company flexed their muscles in the final few seasons of the Division III era, claiming three straight American Southwest Regular Season Championships, three straight NCAA Division III Regional Championships and a National Championship and National Championship Runner-Up finish; all of which came over the course of the 2015-2018 seasons.
 
NEWCOMERS ADDED TO THE MIX
 
A host of newcomers to the 2022 roster will see game action over the course of the opening two weekends of softball for head coach Mike Reed and company. Last weekend saw a pair of freshman in Melton and Cassidi Mullen see starting time in the Patriot outfield, while senior Shannon Klaus returned to the field for the club after sitting out last season due to injuries to occupy the leadoff role and centerfield position.
 
Melton matched Perez for a team high 10 RBI in her collegiate debut last weekend, and posted a .333 average at the plate with a pair of homers. Mullen went 4-for-11 (.364) in her four starts, while Klaus hit .385 from her leadoff spot with six runs scored and a team-high six walks.
 
Pitchers Tatum Goff and Davis were the two new arms employed by UT Tyler over the weekend, both making a relief appearance and a start. Davis was sensational in her first collegiate start in the win over #25 Central Missouri, striking out eight in her seven complete innings of work while allowing just a single earned run.
 
PEREZ ON THE RECORD WATCH
 
Senior Ashley Perez will be in pursuit of a host of UT Tyler softball records this spring, as she begins her fifth season as a Patriot among the top 10 in the majority of offensive categories. She sits atop the record list in career slugging percentage (.792) and is now just five doubles shy of matching Joey Cronin's school record mark of 65 doubles in a career.
 
Perez moved into second place on the all-time records list with her 178^th career RBI over the weekend, and is now just 15 shy of matching current associated head coach Whitney Wyly's career record of 193. Her two home runs over the weekend also matched Cronin's second place all-time homerun total with 35, five shy of the career record mark of 40 by Wyly.
 
THE 2022 SCHEDULE
 
The 2022 schedule for the Patriots will feature 51 total games comprising of 21 games of non-conference competition and 30 games against Lone Star Conference foes.
 
The LSC schedule will see each conference foe compete in a single doubleheader against each conference opponent. The regular season LSC champion will be decided at the end of the slate of games and will go to the team with the highest winning percentage in conference play at season's end.
 
10 teams will qualify for the 2022 LSC Softball Championships based on their finish in the league standings. Those 10 teams will meet at the no. 1 seed, and LSC regular season champion's host site, on May 5-7^th.
 
The Patriots will compete in two of the best Division II Tournaments across the national landscape to kick off the 2022 season.
 
The Patriots will continue on with the non-conference portion of their schedule with seven additional non-conference games leading up to the start of LSC play, beginning on Feb. 16 with a midweek double header on the road against Our Lady of the Lake. The first games at Suddenlink Field inside the UT Tyer Ballpark will take place on Feb. 18-19 with three games against Arkansas-Monticello.
 
The Lone Star Conference schedule will get started the following week in what will undoubtedly be a highlighted doubleheader across the Division II landscape on Mar. 4^th in Canyon, Texas. UT Tyler will visit defending NCAA Division II National Champions West Texas A&M after sweeping the Lady Buffs last season by 8-1 and 10-3 final scores in Tyler.