TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler softball program earned the 2022 Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship with a pair of 6-2 and 4-1 wins over #20 Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Patriots clinched their second consecutive regular season title with a final record of 26-4 in Lone Star Conference play, and will host the 2022 Lone Star Conference Softball Championships as the no. 1 seed on May 5-7 at the Irwin Ballpark. #1 UT Tyler finishes the 2022 regular season with a 40-4 overall record, and have now secured the regular season title in the Lone Star Conference in each of the first two seasons competing in the league.
 
UT Tyler will make their first appearance in Division II postseason play at the 2022 LSC Softball Championships on Thursday, May 5^th at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of the no. 9 seed Cameron and no. 8 seed West Texas A&M match-up earlier that day at 1:30 p.m.
 
The regular season title and that no. 1 seed in the LSC postseason tournament was officially clinched following a 6-2 victory in the game one meeting with Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday afternoon. The Patriots used a four-run rally in the third inning and a standout relief appearance in the circle from senior Sarah Gartman to secure that clinching victory.
 
The Lions scored both runs off of Madison Shaefer homeruns, one in the first and on in the fifth, but notched just four additional hits in the ballgame against the combination of Gartman and starter Tatum Goff in the circle. Goff went 1.2 innings, but found trouble in the top of the second after loading the bases full of Lions.
 
Gartman came on in relief of Goff and retired the next batter to keep the game at a 1-0 margin after Schaefer's leadoff homerun to start off the day, and then went on to allow just four hits and a single earned run over the course of her next 5.1 innings of work. A pair of walks and a Shannon Klaus single loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the third for UT Tyler, before sophomore Courtney Plocheck cleared the bases with a double off the leftfield wall that put an end to the only Lion lead of the day with a 3-1 advantage for the Patriots.
 
Senior Ashley Perez then followed suit and traded places with Plocheck for back-to-back doubles that made it 4-1 after Plocheck came around to score.
 
A second Shaefer solo-homer for the Lions made it 4-2 in the top of the fifth, a margin that wouldn't last through the bottom half of the frame as the Patriots quickly manufactured runners onto second and third with just one out. Goff then delivered at the plate with an RBI single to right field that scored Simon for her second run of the day, and allowed Plocheck to score from third after the throw to the plate airmailed the catcher and made it 6-2.
 
Gartman retired the Lions in order in the sixth and then worked around a leadoff walk and an ensuing hit-by-pitch to record three straight outs and clinch the second straight LSC regular season title for the program. The victory for Gartman moved her overall record to a perfect 9-0 on the year.
 
Simon and Plocheck both scored twice for UT Tyler in game one, while Plocheck and Goff both had multi-hit games. Plocheck finished her first game of the afternoon 2-for-3 at the plate with the aforementioned three RBI on the bases clearing double in the third.
 
Game number two proved to be an over six-hour affair for the two teams, as the game was delayed due to inclement weather in the area prior to the start of the fourth inning for nearly four hours. UT Tyler wasted no time prior to the delay building a lead with three runs in the first and a run right before the first lightning strike in the third inning.
 
 Perez put the first two runs on the board with the 42^nd homer of her career, scoring Klaus in the process to make it 2-0. Simon then added to the advantage two batters later after an Audrey Escamilla walk with a double to left center that made it 3-0.
 
Senior Mak Dominguez added what would be the fourth and final run in the bottom of the third to make It 4-0 in favor of the Patriots.
 
The quick start offensively then took a backseat to the stellar outing in the circle from senior Jacey Henry, who entered the ballgame with just 3.0 innings pitched all season before earning the start on Senior Day. The Marietta, Okla. native took full advantage of the opportunity, going for the full 7.0 innings while striking out nine Lion batters along the way.
 
Her only run allowed came unearned in the top of the seventh in an otherwise shutdown effort for the senior. Henry allowed just six Lion hits, and stranded four runners in scoring position throughout the ballgame.
 
The four Patriot runs prior to the delay, and then the continued dominance in the circle from Henry, allowed UT Tyler to finish off their 2022 regular season with their 40^th win of the season, and 13^th straight win heading into postseason play.
 
The Patriots needed just four hits to plate their four runs in the ballgame, while Perez led the way offensively with the two-run homer to finish her day 2-for-6 at the plate with three RBI.