DENVER, COLO. – No. 1 seeded UT Tyler turned what began as a back-and-forth ballgame into a no-doubt victory with eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to avoid elimination from the 2022 NCAA Division II World Series with a 12-5 win over no. 4 seeded Southern Indiana.
 
The Patriots had six individuals record multi-hit outings as the offense gained momentum throughout the game to finish with 15 hits in the program's first win at the NCAA Division II World Series. UT Tyler took the lead early with two runs in the first inning, but had to fight off two Southern Indiana comebacks, the second culminating in a 5-4 lead for the Screaming Eagles heading into the bottom of the fifth.
 
Sophomore Tatum Goff helped change the tide of the contest for the Patriots in that eight-run bottom of the fifth inning with four RBI in the frame alone, including a three-run homer to dead center that flipped the lead back in favor for UT Tyler at 7-5. Goff finished her afternoon 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and four RBI to join sophomore Courtney Plocheck, who hit a pair of doubles, as leaders for the Patriots at the plate.
 
That game-changing effort for UT Tyler kept their National Championship hopes alive, and sets up another elimination game tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. CST against no. 3 seeded Auburn-Montgomery. Auburn-Montgomery won their first game of the tournament over no. 6 seed Seton Hill by a 4-0 final, but fell to no. 7 seed North Georgia 8-0 in their game earlier this afternoon to move to the loser's bracket.
 
Senior Ashley Perez hit a sac fly to rightfield to score classmate senior Shannon Klaus for the game's first run early on in the bottom of the first before an Audrey Escamilla single down the leftfield line plated Goff to make it 2-0 in favor of the Patriots. That lead held through the second inning before Southern Indiana was able to push two runs across after stranding a combined three runners on in the first and second innings.
 
The 2-2 tie didn't last long as RBI singles in the third and fourth innings from freshman Sam Schott and senior Mak Dominguez regained the two-run cushion for the Patriots. Southern Indiana responded with three runs in the top of the fifth to negate the second UT Tyler lead of the ballgame and jump ahead with the 5-4 advantage.
 
A Patriot offense that had seven hits through the first four innings used that gaining confidence to break the game open with eight runs off of seven hits in the bottom of the fifth, beginning with the aforementioned three-run homer from Goff. Amanda Marek and Schott continued the rally, Marek with a sacrifice fly that scored Michelle Arias, and Schott a second RBI single of the ballgame to make it 9-5.
 
The pressure on the Screaming Eagle defense continued as Plocheck and Perez forced consecutive fielding errors on Southern Indiana with hard hit balls. Plocheck's fly ball that was dropped by the right fielder scored Schott for the seventh run of the inning before Goff hit an RBI single in the ensuing at-bat that scored Plocheck for her fourth RBI of the frame.
 
Freshman Kaylee Davis benefitted from the offensive rally for the Patriots and retired the final six Southern Indiana batters in order to close out the ballgame. Davis came on in relief of Sarah Gartman in the top of the fifth, and collected her ninth win of the season in the process after allowing just two hits in 2.2 innings.
 
Goff got the start in the circle and allowed two earned runs off of five hits in her 2.2 innings of work.
 
First pitch for tomorrow's game nine of the tournament is scheduled for a 1 p.m. CST start.