WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS – #1 UT Tyler closed out their weekend road trip with a pair of 15-5 and 10-1 victories over Midwestern State on Sunday afternoon.
 
Both wins came in run-rule fashion in just five innings, and capped off a weekend road trip against Texas Woman's and Midwestern State in which UT Tyler totaled 10 or more runs in all four victories and ended three of the wins by way of a run-rule. The Patriots did the majority of their damage in just two innings on Sunday in an 11-run top of the fifth in game one, and a nine-run bottom of the second in game two.
 
Those two innings combined with yet another quality start from sophomore Tatum Goff in game two, helped move UT Tyler's record to 25-1 following their 11^th straight win on Sunday afternoon. The Patriots are now 11-1 in Lone Star Conference play and have scored 10 or more runs in seven out of their last nine conference games.
 
Goff made her impact felt in the first game at the plate with a three-run homer in the top of the third inning with two outs to open up the Patriot scoring for the day. Midwestern State answered quickly in the bottom half of the frame with a two-run homer of their own to make it 3-2 after neither team was able to plate any runs in the first two innings.
 
The offensive momentum carried into the fourth for both teams, as an RBI single from Bayli Simon, once again with two outs on the board, made it 4-2 in favor of the Patriots. Midwestern State answered for the second inning in a row, this time with a three-run frame that put the Mustangs ahead 5-4 through four innings of play.
 
Sophomore Courtney Plocheck led an offensive charge for the Patriots in the ensuing top half of the fifth that would effectively change the momentum of the day from that point forward. Plocheck totaled five RBI in the fifth inning alone, in a frame in which UT Tyler would go on to score 11 runs to not only retake the lead, but enact the run-rule as well.
 
Plocheck got the scoring started with the second three-run homer for the Patriots of the day in her first plate appearance, and then hit a two-run double in her second at bat of the inning to continue the onslaught of Patriot offense. UT Tyler scored the 11 runs in the frame with just six hits, three of which were RBI singles from sophomore Hanna Fradkin, senior Ashley Perez and sophomore Amanda Marek.
 
The Patriots had 16 at bats in the inning, and eventually finished off the scoring with a 15-5 advantage, a margin that would hold through the bottom half of the fifth.
 
Plocheck finished the first game 3-for-4 with the aforementioned three-run homer, a double and five RBI, all of which came in the top of the fifth. Fradkin matched Plocheck with three hits on the day, finishing her first game on Sunday 3-for-5, and scored a pair of runs.
 
Senior Sarah Gartman picked up her sixth win of the 2022 season, coming on for relief of starter Payton Foster in the bottom of the fourth. Gartman allowed just two hits in her 1.1 innings of relief.
 
The Patriots used another big half inning in game number two to cruise in the 10-1 finale victory. Perez inched closer with the 39^th homerun of her career in the top of the first inning, putting her just one homer shy of matching current Associate Head Coach Whitney Wyly's UT Tyler softball record for homeruns in a career.
 
That solo shot made it 1-0, an advantage that was quickly negated with an RBI single by the Mustangs in the bottom of the first. Midwestern State loaded the bases with three straight at-bats to start the frame, but only managed to plate the single run as Goff worked around the jam to keep the 1-1 score in-tact.
 
Goff would go on to allow just one more hit over her next three innings of work, and struckout five Mustangs along the way to pick up her third win of the 2022 season after nine Patriot runs in the top of the second ran the score to it's eventual 10-1 final. Senior Mak Dominguez got the inning started with the fourth Patriot homer of the day, a two-run shot that scored Plocheck to make it 3-1.
 
Marek singled down the leftfield line a few batters later to make it 5-1, and then back-to-back costly errors by the Mustangs made it 8-1 with three unearned runs for the Patriots. Sophomore Michelle Arias capped off the scoring for UT Tyler with a two-RBI single to left that scored Dominguez and Plocheck.
 
A bunt single in the bottom half of the second allowed what would be one of the two base runners to get on for Midwestern State in their final four trips to the plate. Goff worked around that single in the second and then retired the side in the third and fourth innings before giving way to freshman Kaylee Davis for the final frame.
 
Davis struckout the final two Mustang hitters to put an exclamation point on the dominate weekend for the Patriots.
 
Plocheck finished the day 5-for-7 from the plate with the five RBI in game one and four runs scored between the two games.  Marek was also impressive at the dish on Sunday and finished her afternoon 4-for-7 with three runs scored and three RBI.
 
UT Tyler's previously scheduled midweek non-conference doubleheader against Southeastern Oklahoma State has been cancelled due to anticipated inclement weather on Tuesday afternoon, making for what will be a huge road test for UT Tyler in their next games. The Patriots will head to #17 Angelo State and #14 Lubbock Christian on Friday and Saturday in what will be a battle of three teams that have already eclipsed the 20-win mark on the year.