DENVER, COLO. – No. 1 UT Tyler and No. 5 Rogers State will meet tomorrow afternoon for a possible two games to determine who will advance to the best-of-three championship series of the 2022 NCAA Division II World Series.
 
First pitch for game one is scheduled for a 12 p.m. start at the Regency Athletic Complex, a must win for UT Tyler if they are to force a second game that will begin at 5 p.m. CST. The Patriots, who have won two straight games against no. 4 seed Southern Indiana and no. 3 seed Aubuirn-Montgomery, must defeat the Hillcats in both games if they are to advance to Monday and Tuesday's final series.
 
The Patriots defeated Southern Indiana by a 12-5 final on Friday afternoon, and then secured a walk-off 4-3 victory over Auburn-Montgomery on Saturday afternoon to continue their National Championship hopes. Rogers State won each of their first two games of the World Series with a 7-2 win over Southern Indiana and a 10-2 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills.
 
UT Tyler is 49-8 on the year after claiming the Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship, the South Central Super Region I Bracket, and the South Central Super Regional Championship in route to earning their spot in the Division II World Series.
 
LIVE STATS AND LIVE VIDEO
 
The live stat and live video link for tomorrow's game can be found HERE.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
 
Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets either at the venue or online at the link located HERE.
 

TICKET PRICES
All-Session Adult	$30
All-Session Senior (65+), Student (with ID), Youth (17 & Under)	$15
Single Day Adult	$10
Single Day Senior (65+), Student (with ID), Youth (17 & Under)	$5

 
WORLD SERIES HISTORY
 
UT Tyler softball is in the midst of their eighth appearance in an NCAA World Series. The Patriots qualified for the NCAA Division III World Series on seven different occasions (2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2011, 2009) and are 18-14 all-time in NCAA World Series play.
 
UT Tyler is in the first full season of Division II postseason eligibility after completing the mandatory three-year transition period from 2019-21. The Patriots claimed the 2016 NCAA Division III National Championship and finished as the NCAA Division III National Runner-Up in 2015 after qualifying for the NCAA Division III World Series in four straight seasons (2015-2018) prior to the transition to NCAA Division II.
 
 
GAME THREE
 
UT Tyler went down to the final strike in consecutive at-bats before walking it off in the bottom of the seventh inning to advance in the 2022 NCAA Division II World Series with a 4-3 win over no. 3 seeded Auburn-Montgomery.
 
A hard-hit ground ball to the shortstop from senior Shannon Klaus forced a fielding error by the Warhawks to allow Michelle Arias to come home for the winning run to send the Patriots to another game tomorrow afternoon against no. 5 seeded Rogers State. A 2-0 lead through six innings vanished on a two-out, two-run homer by Auburn-Montgomery in the top of the seventh inning to force a bottom half of the inning in an elimination game for both sides.
 
UT Tyler got the leadoff runner on as senior Bayli Simon drew a walk to start what could have been the final trip to the plate of the 2022 season for UT Tyler. A fly-out, and then a ground-out that moved Simon over to second, put the Patriots just one out away from elimination.
 
Sophomore Michelle Arias, who stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter, singled to centerfield with two strikes to put runners on first and third. A passed ball allowed Simon to come home to score the tying run, and then Klaus' rocket shot to the shortstop bounced off the glove of the fielder and allowed Arias to come home to score for the walk-off victory to keep UT Tyler in the Division II World Series.
 
Arias advanced to third with heads up baserunning on the passed ball that scored Simon, making her way over to third on a bad throw from the catcher back to the pitcher for the Warhawks after Simon slid across home plate to make it 2-2. Klaus then made that extra-effort play from Arias count despite an 0-2 count by putting a ball in play that resulted in a second consecutive costly error for Auburn-Montgomery to give UT Tyler another game in Denver.
 
Senior Tatum Goff didn't allow a single hit through 4.0 innings of work in her third consecutive start of the World Series, and then worked around a double by the Warhawks in the top of the fifth inning to keep a two-run Patriot advantage in-tact. Goff have herself the early lead with an RBI double in the bottom of the first that scored classmate Ashley Perez, and then got some breathing room heading in the bottom of the sixth inning after a leadoff solo homer from sophomore Courtney Plocheck.
 
Plocheck had a hand in a key defensive play for the Patriots late in the ballgame as well, making a difficult over the should catch in foul territory with a runner on third in the top of the fifth inning for the third out of the frame. That catch kept the Warhawks off of the board in the fifth, and would prove vital as Auburn-Montgomery finally found some offense against Goff in the top of the seventh.
 
A leadoff walk and an ensuing single for the Warhawks in the top of the seventh brought freshman Kaylee Davis into the circle with runners on first and second. Davis forced a flyout on the ensuing batter, and then got a quick second out of the inning on a fielder's choice despite allowing the first Auburn-Montgomery run of the inning to score.
 
Davis worked deep into the count on the next batter with two strikes and two outs on the board, but a homerun to dead center from Molly Cobb of the Warhawks briefly changed the game and made it 3-2 in favor of Auburn-Montgomery.
 
The UT Tyler bats and the heads-up base running from Arias made-up for that stretch of offense for the Warhawks, and allowed Davis to pick up her 10^th win of the 2022 season. Goff went 6.0 complete innings and struckout seven while allowing just two earned runs.
 
GAME TWO
 
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.
 
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.
 
GAME ONE
 
UT Tyler began game one of the 2022 NCAA Division II World Series with a 5-1 loss at the hands of no. 8 seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills. The loss will force the Patriots to overcome a defeat once again in the NCAA Tournament after losing a single game in both the South Central Regional and South Central Super Regional Tournament.
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills scored five runs off of just four hits in the second, third and fourth innings to jump ahead of UT Tyler early, and then survived seven Patriot hits in their final four trips to the plate. UT Tyler stranded 10 base runners and committed three fielding errors, both uncharacteristic numbers for a Patriot team that entered the bracket as the no. 1 overall seed. The Patriot offense totaled just a single hit in their first three trips to the plate, and quickly fell behind 5-0 before finding their stride offensively beginning in the bottom of the fourth inning.
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills took advantage of the slow start offensively for UT Tyler, hitting a two-run homer in the second and then striking for a trio of doubles between the third and fourth innings to add the additional three runs.
 
UT Tyler got on the board in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out RBI single from Ashley Perez that scored Courtney Plocheck to make it 5-1 after five full innings of play, but stranded a pair of baserunners in the sixth and seventh innings despite finding their footing at the plate.
 
Senior Mak Dominguez and sophomore Hanna Fradkin led off the bottom of the sixth inning with back-to-back singles to continue the momentum generated with the Perez RBI in the fifth, but three consecutive flyouts for the Patriots in the next three at bats stranded both runners on first and second.
 
The seventh inning followed suit for UT Tyler, as senior Shannon Klaus and Plocheck both led off with singles to start the frame, but couldn't manage to advance any farther after three consecutive outs for the Patriots once again.
 
PATRIOT NOTES
 
Courtney Plocheck is now 5-for-10 at the Division II World Series with four extra-base hits, three doubles and a homer. Her and Shannon Klaus lead UT Tyler with five runs scored between the three games. Plocheck is batting .472 for the 11 games of the National Tournament for the Patriots, and has eight doubles and 16 runs scored in 11 games. Plocheck has a seven-game hit streak, and has multi-hit efforts in five of those games.
 
Tatum Goff has 18 RBI in the 11 NCAA Tournament Games for UT Tyler, and is 15-for-34 (.441) with a .853 slugging percentage over that stretch. She has now made 10 appearances in the 11 outings for the Patriots, and has posted a 2.18 ERA and a record of 5-1 in the National Tournament.
 
UT Tyler is batting .341 as a team in the three games of the World Series, and has seven doubles and a pair of homeruns as a team.
 
Shannon Klaus extended her hit streak to 13 straight games and is batting .447 in the NCAA National Tournament.
 
UT Tyler is now 18-7 against nationally ranked opponents in 2022.
 
NFCA COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
 
Head coach Mike Reed and his staff have been named the NFCA Division II South Central Region Coaching Staff of the Year for the second consecutive season as announced by the organization on Friday.
 
Coach Reed and his 2022 staff consisting of Whitney Wyly, Anthony Springer and Tristin Anders guided UT Tyler to the 2022 Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship, South Central Regional and Super Regional Titles, and the program's first appearance in the NCAA Division II World Series in the first season of postseason eligibility.
 
UT Tyler has now won back-to-back NFCA South Central Region Coaching Staff of the Year Awards after earning the award in last year's 2021 season, and have claimed a total of eight Regional Coaching Staff of the Year Awards by the NFCA. Coach Reed and his staff won the honor in 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 as Division III members, and have now won the award in both seasons as a Division II program.
POSTSEASON PLAY
 
UT Tyler softball is now 99-43 in postseason play all-time and are 64-27 in NCAA National Tournament play dating back to their inaugural appearance in the 2008 season.
 
UT Tyler beat no. 8 Colorado Christian in game one of the South Central Regional in their first NCAA Division II National Tournament appearance. The Patriots then lost to no. 4 seeded Lubbock Christian 5-1, and then defeated no. 5 seeded Angelo State 2-0 to get to the finals of Tyler Regional.
 
UT Tyler went on to defeat no. 4 seeded Lubbock Christian twice on Saturday of the regional finals by 3-1 and 9-2 finals to advance to the NCAA South Central Super Regionals. They then bested no. 3 seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville 5-1 in game one of the Super Regionals and then won the deciding game three by a 6-4 final over the Javelinas after losing game two by a 6-5 final in nine innings.
 
A PAIR OF ALL-AMERICANS
 
Senior Ashley Perez and sophomore Tatum Goff were both named to the 2022 NFCA First Team All-American list as announced by the organization on Wednesday afternoon. Perez was also named to the 2022 D2CCA All-America First Team list and Goff to the 2022 D2CCA All-America Third Team list, earning the 30^th, 31^st, 32^nd and 33^rd All-American accolades for the UT Tyler softball program.  
 
UT Tyler was one of eight programs with two honorees on the NFCA list and joined Augustana as the only programs with multiple first teamers. 
 
Ashley Perez was also named the 2022 Diamond Sports/NFCA DIvision II Catcher of the Year, becoming just the fifth three-time honoree of the award dating back to the inception of the award in 1997 after claiming the 2018 and 2019 version of the award at the Division III level.  Perez was selected as a Top 25 finalist for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Player of the Year as well.
 
Perez is now a four-time NFCA All-American after earning second team honors last season and a pair of Division III First Team honors in 2018 and 2019. The Pflugerville, Texas native earned NFCA First Team All-South Central Region and All-LSC First Team honors in 2022, her second consecutive season earning both first team accolades.
 
Goff earns her inaugural First Team All-American honor as a redshirt-sophomore in the program after transferring from the University of Kansas.
 
ALL-REGION ACCOLADES
 
Goff and Perez were each named to the NFCA and D2CCA First Team All-South Central Region lists while Bayli Simon, Sarah Gartman and Courtney Plocheck were named to the D2CCA Second Team All-South Central Region list and Amanda Marek to the NFCA Second Team All-South Central Region list.
 
The D2CCA honors are nominated and voted on by sports information directors from the South Central Region which includes the LSC and RMAC. NFCA member head coaches from each respective region nominated their student-athletes and voted on the teams.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE ACCOLADES
 
The UT Tyler softball team received 12 distinctions on the 2022 Lone Star Conference Softball All-Conference Awards list as announced by the conference office at the annual banquet.
 
Head coach Mike Reed was tabbed as the Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season and sophomore Tatum Goff was named the league's Newcomer of the Year to highlight the lengthy list of accolades for the 2022 LSC Regular Season Champions. Goff was joined on the All-LSC First Team list by senior Ashley Perez and Courtney Plocheck, while Bayli Simon, Mak Dominguez, Michelle Arias and Sarah Gartman were all tabbed as All-LSC Third Team performers.
 
Kaylee Davis was named to the LSC All-Freshman Team, while Payton Foster was named to the All-Academic Team. Senior Shannon Klaus earned a Golden Glove Award for her work defensively throughout the 2022 season.