TYLER, TEXAS - #1 UT Tyler finished off their weekend with 10-2 and 2-1 wins over Cameron on Sunday afternoon to maintain their two-game advantage in the Lone Star Conference regular season standings.
 
The Patriots jumped out to an 8-0 lead in game one and then provided a pair of two-out hits with runners in scoring position in the bottom of the fourth inning in game two to come out on the winning side of a pitcher's duel for the 2-1 second game victory. Senior Shannon Klaus went 4-for-5 on the day with a pair of doubles, including one of those key two-out hits in game two, while classmate Sarah Gartman put together a pair of shutdown relief efforts in the circle.
 
The wins move UT Tyler's overall record to 38-4 on the year, and their conference record to 24-4, two games clear of #14 Lubbock Christian for first place in the league standings. The Patriots have just one more doubleheader left on the 2022 regular season schedule, and have put themselves in position of clinching their second straight Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship barring the results of the week's action.
 
UT Tyler scored runs in each of the first four innings in game one to pad the 8-0 advantage, thanks in large part to a pair of homers from sophomores Amanda Marek and Audrey Escamilla. Marek's solo shot in the second doubled the Patriot lead after an early RBI single from senior Mak Dominguez that scored Bayli Simon in the bottom of the first.
 
Klaus provided the first of her doubles with two-outs on the board on the day in the bottom of the third with a hit down the leftfield line that scored a pair of Patriots to extend the advantage to 4-0. Starter Tatum Goff worked with efficiency with the big lead on her side, retiring 12 of the first 14 batters she faced in the ballgame.
 
Escamilla then capped off the string of runs in the fourth inning for UT Tyler with a three-run shot to left center that made it 8-0. Cameron avoided being run-ruled in five innings with a pair of runs off of back-to-back doubles in the top of the fifth, leading to Gartman's first relief appearance of the afternoon.
 
The Kinder, La. native retired the next two batters she faced to keep the margin at 8-2 heading into the sixth. She then retired the side in order in the top of the sixth, setting the stage for UT Tyler to end the game with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning.
 
Dominguez stole home for the first of those two runs before pinch hitter Sam Schott ended the first game of the day with a sac fly to leftfield that scored sophomore Hanna Fradkin to bring the contest to it's 10-2 final.
 
UT Tyler scored their 10 runs off of 12 hits in the victory, three of which came off of the bat of Klaus. Klaus finished game one a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with the aforementioned pair of RBI.
 
Marek joined Klaus with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with the homer and a pair of runs scored. Goff earned her seventh win of the 2022 season, going 4.1 innings while allowing two earned runs off of five hits.
 
Both sides stranded a pair of runners on base in the first inning of game number two, in what would turn into a pitching duel throughout the seven innings of action. Freshman Kaylee Davis worked around those runners in the first inning and then cruised through the next three innings without any serious threat.
 
The Patriot offense finally got a runner home in the bottom of the fourth, as a second double with two outs on the board from Klaus scored Fradkin to make it 1-0. Klaus stole third during the ensuing at bat, and then made it home on a Simon single up the middle to provide what would end up being the winning run for UT Tyler in the ballgame.
 
Both teams went three-up, three-down in the fifth before Cameron finally broke through in the top of the sixth. A leadoff single and an ensuing sac bunt put a runner in scoring position for the Aggies, leading to Gartman's second relief appearance of the afternoon.
 
Cameron singled up the middle on the first at-bat against Gartman to cut the lead in half at 2-1, but couldn't get anymore out of the inning as Perez threw out the runner going from first to second on the RBI single for the third out of the inning.
 
A similar sequence in the seventh, a leadoff single and a successful sac bunt, moved another Aggie into scoring position on second. The tying run moved over to third after a fly out to rightfield in the ensuing at bat, before Gartman solidified her second save of the 2022 season with a groundout to end the ballgame and close out the 4-0 weekend for the Patriots.
 
Gartman allowed just two hits in her 3.0 innings of work without allowing an earned run, highlighting a day in the circle for the UT Tyler staff that featured just three runs for the Aggies.
 
Perez had a pair of hits in game two to go 2-for-3 for UT Tyler, while Klaus and Simon posted the crucial two RBI for the club.
 
The Patriots will now turn their attention to the 2022 season finale schedule for next Saturday against #19 Texas A&M-Commerce at 1p.m.. That afternoon will serve as the annual senior day, and could also stand as the clinching pair of wins for UT Tyler in pursuit of the 2022 LSC Regular Season Championship.