CONROE, TEXAS - #1 UT Tyler used big days at the plate from Bayli Simon and Courtney Plocheck and scored seven unanswered runs to secure a 9-2 win over Harding in their 2022 season opener.
 
The Patriots had 10 hits as a team and Payton Foster allowed just a single earned run over 7.0 innings of work to move to 1-0 in the Arkansas Tech Invitational in Conroe, Texas. The opening day victory came over a Harding club that started out the tournament with a 3-0 record, all three victories coming against Lone Star Conference foes (Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas A&M International, #15 Oklahoma Christian).
 
Simon finished with four RBI on the day and Plocheck went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three runs scored to spur a heart of the Patriots batting order that finished the day 6-for-7 with seven runs scored combined. Amanda Marek scored three times and went 1-for-1 at the dish with two hit by pitches to add to that outstanding performance from the four, five and six hole batters for the Patriots.
 
UT Tyler trailed 1-0 after the Lady Bisons plated an unearned run in the top of the first. Foster worked around an opening inning jam in that top half of the inning, conceded just the one run after Harding loaded the bases with one out.
 
Plocheck got the offense started for the Patriots in the bottom half of the second, coming around to score on a two-RBI single from Mak Dominguez after her leadoff single to start the inning. Marek crossed the plate as well to flip the one-run advantage in favor of UT Tyler after getting hit by a pitch in her first at-bat.
 
Harding immediately answered with a run in the top of the third in what would be their final run of the outing as Foster settled in to her first start of the season without allowing a run in the final four innings. The Patriots gave Foster help once again in the bottom of the third with three runs after Ashley Perez and Plocheck each produced one-out hits to get runners on second and third with one out following the first of Plocheck's doubles.
 
Both Patriots would come around to score on a two-RBI single from Simon, followed up by the third run of the frame by Marek, courtesy of an RBI groundout by Michelle Arias.
 
That heart of the order got going once again on their next trip to the plate in a bottom half of the fifth inning that would break open the game with the final four Patriot runs, capping off the seven unanswered runs by the club. Plocheck doubled once again and then came around to score with Marek on yet another Simon two-RBI single.
 
Freshman Maddie Melton then drove Simon home on her first career collegiate homerun, a two-run blast to left field that made it 9-2. Foster worked around three baserunners in the top half of the sixth and seventh innings to finish her outing with just the lone earned run back in the third and a pair of strikeouts.
 
The Patriots scored their nine runs on 10 hits and left just four runners on base throughout the contest.
 
UT Tyler will play a pair of games tomorrow at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. against Southern Nazarene and #20 Central Oklahoma to continue play in the Arkansas Tech Invitational. Play will finish up in the event for the Patriots on Sunday afternoon at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. against Central Missouri and Arkansas Tech.