TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler softball team will look to secure the outright 2022 Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship with a win in Saturday's doubleheader against #20 Texas A&M-Commerce.
 
The Patriots have already secured at least a share of the LSC Regular Season Championship, but can claim their second straight outright title on Saturday with a win in either of the two games against the Lions scheduled for 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. starts. UT Tyler is 24-4 on the year in Lone Star Conference games, and enters Saturday's final regular season series on the heels of an 11-game winning streak.

Saturday will serve as Senior Day for the program, as Ashley Perez, Mak Dominguez, Shannon Klaus, Lauren Harris, Sarah Gartman, Bailey Simon and Jacey Henry will be recognized between games for their accomplishments and contributions to the program.
 
FOR ALL THE MARBLES
 
UT Tyler can earn no worse than Co-Regular Season Champion status regardless of the results of Saturday's doubleheader, but sit a pair of games clear of both Texas A&M-Commerce and #13 Lubbock Christian for the top spot in the regular season standings. A win on Saturday over Texas A&M-Commerce would make the Patriots a perfect 2-for-2 in their two seasons in the league in claiming the outright Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship.
 
A win would also guarantee that the Patriots host the 2022 Lone Star Conference Softball Championships at the Irwin Ballpark on May 5-7 as the no. 1 seed, in what will be the program's first appearance in the tournament after being ineligible for postseason competition while completing the three-year transition to full-fledged Division II status.
 
STAYING AT NO. 1
 
UT Tyler softball garnered all 16 first-place votes and 400 points to stay as the unanimous no. 1 ranked team in the country according to the 2022 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll for the third week in a row. UT Tyler has now appeared in the top spot of the national rankings in 11 out of the 12 regular season polls in 2022, and has unanimously sat atop the poll in six of those weeks.
 
Six Lone Star Conference foes received a top-25 national ranking in this week's edition of the poll, including two other teams alongside UT Tyler within the top-10 in no. 3 Texas A&M-Kingsville and no. 7 Angelo State. Lubbock Christian (no. 13), Oklahoma Christian (no. 15), and Texas A&M-Commerce (no. 20) rounded out the additional three teams from the LSC to receive a ranking.
 
UT Tyler is 8-4 on the year against nationally-ranked foes, and holds three wins in 2022 against opponents currently ranked within the top-10 of the NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll.

AND NO. 1 IN THE REGION
 
The Patriots also appeared as the no. 1 ranked team in the second edition of the 2022 NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings as announced by the regional advisory committee.
 
Wednesday's rankings are the second of three regional rankings that will be released prior to the selection of the 2022 NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament field on Sunday, May 8^th. The winners of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and Lone Star Conference (LSC) Postseason Tournaments will receive the two available automatic qualifying bids in the tournament, while the final six teams of the eight-team field will receive at-large bids based on the top six remaining highest ranked teams in the South Central Regional rankings.
 
The eight-team bracket will be split into two brackets, one at each of the top two ranked teams in the rankings host site on May 12-14, with the winners of each side of the bracket advancing to the NCAA Division II Super Regionals on May 19-20.


Lubbock Christian (no. 2), Texas A&M-Kingsville (no. 3), Oklahoma Christian (no. 4) and Angelo State (no. 5) round out the top five of this week's rankings, followed by Texas A&M-Commerce (no. 6), Colorado Mesa (no. 7), St. Mary's (no. 8), West Texas A&M (no. 9) and Colorado Christian (no. 10).
 
HOME RUN QUEEN
 
Senior Ashley Perez once again etched her name at the top of another category in the UT Tyler softball record book last weekend, with the 41^st homerun of her career in the bottom of the sixth inning in the game two victory over Oklahoma Christian. The homer eclipsed current associate head coach Whitney Wyly's previous school record mark of 40 for a career.
 
Perez adds that career homerun mark to her school record feats of doubles in a career (71) and RBI in a career (210), and sits just 10 hits away from matching the career record for hits, held by Joey Cronin, who had 259 for her career from 2010-13.
 
NATIONAL STAT CHECK
 
UT Tyler has remained within the top 10 of the Division II softball national rankings for the entire season in both batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and scoring. The Patriots enter the final weekend of the regular season ranked sixth in the country in batting average (.364), second in on-base percentage (.454), seventh in slugging percentage (.565) and third in scoring (8.05).
 
That elite production at the plate has been complimented by a steady pitching staff, as well as the nation's fourth best defense in terms of fielding percentage (.979) for the year.
 
TOP 50 WATCH LIST
 
UT Tyler seniors Ashley Perez and Bayli Simon were selected as two of the fifty student-athletes from across the country that were revealed as part of the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Year Awards list.
 
The Player of the Year award was created in 2015 to honor the outstanding athletic achievements among softball student-athletes throughout NCAA Division II. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include a Player and Pitcher of the Year. The list is compiled and the award is voted on by the elected members of the NFCA Division II All-American Committee with one head coach representing each of the eight NCAA regions. To be eligible, a student-athletes' head coach must be a member.
 
The Top 25 finalists for the 2022 Schutt Sports / NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Year awards will be announced on May 5. A student-athlete does not have to be on the Top 50 list to be considered for the Top 25. The winner of each award will be announced on June 2, following the conclusion of the 2022 season.
 
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 (.827), posting a 788-163 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 51-7 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.