TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler softball team will take on Our Lady of the Lake on Wednesday afternoon in San Antonio, Texas in a non-conference doubleheader scheduled for 12 p.m.
 
The Patriots swept through their first two non-conference tournaments of the year at the Arkansas Tech Winter Invitational and the Alvy Early Memorial Classic to move to 9-0. Wednesday's doubleheader at Our Lady of the Lake will preclude the home opener for UT Tyler scheduled for Friday night at 6 p.m. against Arkansas-Monticello at Suddenlink Field, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
UNANIMOUS NO. 1
 
 The UT Tyler softball program received all 16 first-place votes to enter the first regular season edition of the 2022 NFCA Division II Coaches Poll as the unanimous no. 1 ranked team in Division II softball. The Patriots earned 400 points to lead the way for five ranked Lone Star Conference teams after beginning the year 9-0 for the first time since 2007.
 
Valdosta State (no. 2), North Georgia (no. 3) Concordia Irvine (no. 4) and West Texas A&M (no. 5) rounded out the top five, while the Patriots were the lone team to receive a first-place vote. Central Oklahoma, who UT Tyler run-ruled by a 17-4 final tally in five innings back on Feb. 6, moved up to the no. 16 spot, while five teams that UT Tyler will face at some point this season received a top 25 ranking.
 
The four additional LSC teams that received a ranking in the first regular season poll included West Texas A&M (no. 5), Angelo State (no. 9), Oklahoma Christian (no. 15), and Texas A&M-Kingsville (no. 20). The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the eight NCAA regions.
 
.500 CLUB
 
Four representatives from the UT Tyler softball team have appeared and started in all nine wins in 2022 and have posted batting averages north of .500. Redshirt Amanda Marek leads that club with an average of .522 on the year, and is tied for the team lead with five doubles on the year.
 
Sophomore Michelle Arias is batting .520 on the year, and leads the lead with 15 RBI and three triples in her nine games of action. Classmate Courtney Plocheck has recorded a .516 batting average, posting a team high 16 hits, and has scored a team-high 15 runs.
 
Redshirt senior Bayli Simon rounds out the four Patriots that have appeared and started in every game with batting averages at or above .500, and has matched Marek with the team lead in doubles (5) while hitting .500 in her 28 at bats in 2022.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS LOOK

UT Tyler enters Wednesday's contest with Our Lady of the Lady ranked within the top five nationally of five different offensive categories. The Patriots rank fourth in all of Division II softball with 23 doubles in their nine wins, and fifth in the country with 88 total runs scored.
 
The Patriots have been hit by 15 pitches so far in 2022, third most in Division II softball, and have the sixth best team batting average (.430) for the year. UT Tyler stands as one of 14 remaining undefeated teams in the country as well.
 
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 (.782) and is now just five doubles shy of matching Joey Cronin's school record mark of 65 doubles in a career.
 
Perez stayed in second place on the all-time records list with her 180^th career RBI over the weekend, and is now just 13 shy of matching current associate head coach Whitney Wyly's career record of 193. She also sits second on the all-time homeruns list with 35, five shy of the career record mark of 40 by Wyly.
 
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 759-159 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.
 
LSC FAVORITES
 
The University of Texas at Tyler softball program was 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.
 
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 Lone Star Conference schedule will get started with 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.