CONROE, TEXAS - #1 UT Tyler cruised to an 8-1 win over #25 Central Missouri and then fought back for a 5-3 win over Arkansas Tech to finish a perfect 5-0 at the Arkansas Tech Invitational on Monday afternoon.
 
The Patriots scored four runs in the first three frames and utilized a complete game effort in the circle from freshman Kaylee Davis to take down their second nationally-ranked opponent in as many games in the morning outing against Central Missouri. UT Tyler then turned around and answered their first multi-run deficit of the 2022 season in the afternoon finale, scoring three runs in the top of the fourth inning to negate a 3-1 lead for Arkansas Tech to begin the season 5-0 on the year.
 
Redshirt senior Ashley Perez had four RBI on the afternoon to finish the tournament with 10 RBI, while classmate Bayli Simon put together a pair of hits in both wins on Monday afternoon to make it five straight multi-hit games for the Frierson, La. native to open up her 2022 campaign. Davis went 7.0 complete innings in the circle for the game one victory, striking out eight batters along the way and scattering five hits to allow just a single earned run in her first collegiate start.
 
Davis used a red-hot Patriot offense in her favor in that victory over Central Missouri as the Patriots struck for runs in the first and second and a pair of runs in the third to pad a 4-0 advantage. Redshirt senior Shannon Klaus had a hand in each of those two runs in the opening two frames, scoring on a wild pitch in the first inning and then driving home sophomore Michelle Arias in the second with a single through the right side.
 
Perez continued the scoring streak for the Patriots in the third, starting the inning off with a leadoff double before giving way to pinch runner Grace Davis. Sophomore Courtney Plocheck put the pressure on the Jennie defense with a bunted single that forced an errant throw to first base that scored Davis all the way from second on the error.
 
Central Missouri finally found an answer to Davis in the bottom of the fourth after Davis struck out two batters in a row to end the bottom of the third with runners on second and third and just a single out, scoring on a two-out RBI single to cut the lead to 4-1. The Patriots quickly answered that run and got the lead back out to a comfortable margin, plating three runs in the top of the sixth to make it 7-1.
 
Perez and Simon both hit RBI singles in that top half of the sixth and then Perez finished off her first game of the day with an RBI groundout to score Klaus in the top of the seventh to make it 8-1. Klaus, Perez and Simon led six Patriots with two hits in the game, while Klaus scored three times and Plocheck twice.
 
UT Tyler got started quickly in the tournament finale against Arkansas Tech, getting a pair of runners on second and third with no outs, and cashed in Klaus for the second straight top half of the first inning thanks to a Perez single to centerfield. That 1-0 lead was short lived for the Patriots as a two-run homer in the ensuing bottom half of the inning for Arkansas Tech with two outs flipped the advantage to 2-1 in their favor.
 
The scoring continued into the second for Arkansas Tech with a single run, giving UT Tyler their first multi-run deficit of the 2022 season at 3-1. Starter Tatum Goff worked her way through that second inning and then gave way to junior Payton Foster, who effectively shutdown Arkansas Tech from that point forward with six strikeouts over the next 5.0 innings of work without surrendering a single run.
 
Back-to-back extra base hits in the top of the fourth put an end to that Arkansas Tech advantage for good as Arias tripled down the leftfield line to score Plocheck, followed by a two-run homer from freshman Maddie Melton that put UT Tyler back ahead 4-3. That two-run shot from Melton was her second of the weekend, and one of five homers for the club in the five games.
 
Foster worked around a pair of Arkansas Tech singles in the fifth and sixth innings, and then benefited from an extra insurance run from her offense in the top of the seventh by way of a Perez single to rightfield that would score Simon. The Patriots put an exclamation point on an outstanding opening weekend of softball in the bottom half of the seventh, rolling Arkansas Tech into a double-play ball with runners on first and second and one out to close out the tournament with the 5-3 victory.
 
Foster was credited with the win after her 5.0 innings of work, moving her record to 3-0 on the year. Five different Patriots crossed home plate in the finale victory over Arkansas Tech, while Perez, Simon and sophomore Hanna Fradkin all had two hits.
 
UT Tyler was one of just two teams across the LSC to navigate opening weekend with an unblemished record, joining Cameron as the only two teams without a loss. The Patriots hit a league best .448 across the five games, and totaled 51 runs on 65 hits for the tournament.
 
Five more non-conference games will await the Patriots next weekend at the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in Bentonville, Ark. Play in that event will begin on Friday, Feb. 11 at 11 a.m. against Drury.