| Game Info |
Opponent Info |
#3 UT Tyler vs. St. Mary's
UTT: 37-4, 25-2 LSC | STMU: 26-17, 16-14 LSC
Tuesday, April 11th | 2 P.M. | 4 P.M.
San Antonio, Texas | Softball Stadium |
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ROSTER |
SCHEDULE |
STATS |
#3 UT Tyler vs. St. Mary's
UTT: 37-4, 25-2 LSC | STMU: 26-17, 16-14 LSC
Wednesday, April 12th | 1 P.M.
San Antonio, Texas | Softball Stadium |
|
ROSTER |
SCHEDULE |
STATS |
A WEEKEND OFF
#3 UT Tyler will return to the field on Tuesday and Wednesday in San Antonio as fresh as they've been in a while after last weekend's home series against Texas A&M-Kingsville was rescheduled due to weather. The Patriots could not be in better form heading into the home stretch of regular season softball having won 14 straight games and six straight Lone Star Conference series via a 3-0 sweep. UT Tyler run-ruled Eastern New Mexico in the final two games of their 3-0 series win in their most recent action, and will be looking to stay hot in this week's trip to St. Mary's.
SCOUTING THE RATTLERS
St. Mary's will present a challenge once again for the Patriots and enter the series with a 26-17 overall record and a 16-14 record in Lone Star Conference play. An opportunity at home against a top team this late in the season will certainly elevate the Rattlers play as they find themselves in the mix for Lone Star Conference and NCAA Tournament berths. St. Mary's swept UT Permian Basin over the weekend with a trio of victories to enter the test against the Patriots in good form. Pitching has been the strength of the Rattlers in 2023 as they rank fifth in the LSC in team ERA (2.58), and utilize the services of two outstanding starting options in Catalina Cavazos and Madeline Bloom. Consistency throughout the lineup has been the weak spot for the Rattlers as they rank ninth in the league with a .263 average. UT Tyler is 4-0 all-time against St. Mary's, including a pair of 7-6 and 5-0 road wins last season.
PATRIOTS BY THE NUMBERS
UT Tyler currently sports the best team fielding percentage (.980) and has drawn the third most walks as a team (170) in all of Division II softball. The Patriots rank 14th in team on-base percentage (.424), and have scored the 15th highest amount of total runs in the country (264).
JT Smith leads the nation in on-base percentage (.623) and 10th in the country in stolen bases (32).
Tatum Goff's 24 wins leads all of Division II softball, and her 139 strikeouts in 2023 ranks 19th in Division II.
A THIRD PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The UT Tyler softball program has collected a fourth Lone Star Conference Hitter of the Week accolade as sophomore
Maddie Melton earned Co-Hitter of the Week honors this week. Melton joins
JT Smith,
Audrey Escamilla and
Michelle Arias as Hitter of the Week honorees from UT Tyler after hitting four homeruns in the Patriot's 3-0 series sweep of Eastern New Mexico. Melton and Texas A&M-Kingsville's Brena Carr split the Hitter of the Week honors while Texas Woman's Alyssa LeBlanc was named the Pitcher of the Week. Melton went 5-for-9 between the three games over the weekend against Eastern New Mexico, hitting a homer in every game while leading the Patriots with seven RBI. UT Tyler used the offensive consistency from Melton to notch a sixth straight Lone Star Conference sweep and a 14
th straight win.
THREE ON THE PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST
#3 UT Tyler placed three representatives on the 2023 Tucci/NFCA DII Player and Pitcher of the Year Watch List.
Tatum Goff,
Courtney Plocheck and
JT Smith have all been included in this year's watch list. The Patriots are the only team from the South Central Region to have placed three players on the list. 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-athlete's head coach must be a member. New in 2023, the list is broken down into the eight NCAA Regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West) with up to 15 student-athletes represented in each region. Voted on by the NFCA's Division II All-American Committee, the 2023 Tucci/NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year will be announced on June 1. All student-athletes are eligible for the end-of-the-season award and do not have to be on this list to be considered.
STAYING AT NO. 3
The University of Texas at Tyler stayed at no. 3 in the latest NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll as announced by the organization on Tuesday afternoon. The Patriots received 368 total votes to stay at no. 3 in what was an unchanged top five of this week's poll. North Georgia was the unanimous no. 1 selection once again, while the Tampa (no. 2), UT Tyler (no. 3), Central Oklahoma (no. 4) and UAH (no. 5) all maintained their same positions in this week's poll. The 2023 NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the eight NCAA regions.
|
Rank
|
School
|
Points
|
2023 Record
|
Previous
Ranking
|
|
1
|
North Georgia (16)
|
400
|
37-1
|
1
|
|
2
|
Tampa
|
384
|
26-2
|
2
|
|
3
|
UT Tyler
|
368
|
34-4
|
3
|
|
4
|
Central Oklahoma
|
349
|
27-4
|
4
|
|
5
|
UAH
|
334
|
28-5
|
5
|
|
6
|
Indianapolis
|
323
|
33-3
|
6
|
|
7
|
Grand Valley State
|
300
|
20-3
|
7
|
|
8
|
Rogers State
|
283
|
27-6
|
8
|
|
9
|
Concordia
|
265
|
29-7
|
9
|
|
10
|
Valdosta State
|
262
|
28-5
|
10
|
|
11
|
Lubbock Christian
|
242
|
32-9
|
11
|
|
12
|
Colorado Christian
|
224
|
37-3
|
12
|
|
13
|
Saint Leo
|
202
|
33-6
|
14
|
|
14
|
West Texas A&M
|
190
|
32-4
|
16
|
|
15
|
Sonoma State
|
170
|
25-6
|
13
|
|
16
|
Wingate
|
160
|
33-8
|
17
|
|
17
|
Washburn
|
145
|
29-7
|
15
|
|
18
|
Adelphi
|
137
|
20-5
|
18
|
|
19
|
Mississippi College
|
100
|
26-6
|
21
|
|
20
|
Harding
|
98
|
29-8
|
20
|
|
21
|
Cal State San Marcos
|
78
|
20-11
|
19
|
|
22
|
Lenoir-Rhyne
|
63
|
29-7
|
22
|
|
23
|
Oklahoma Baptist
|
37
|
30-9
|
25
|
|
24
|
Cal State Dominguez Hills
|
26
|
21-10
|
23
|
|
25
|
West Alabama
|
19
|
26-8
|
RV
|
New to Poll: No. 25 West Alabama
Dropped Out: No. 24 Southern Arkansas
Receiving Votes: Southern Arkansas (18), Nova Southeastern (7), Carson-Newman (5), Wilmington (5), Charleston (2), Missouri Southern (2), Oklahoma Christian (2).
A LOOK AT THE STANDINGS
UT Tyler maintains their standing over West Texas A&M with a record of 25-2 in Lone Star Conference play for first place in the LSC standings. As the calendar turns to April, focus across the LSC will turn to seeding and qualification into the 2023 Lone Star Conference Softball Championship Tournament scheduled for May 4-6. The top seed will host the 10-team single-elimination bracket based on the final LSC standings.
DOMINANCE IN DIVISION II
UT Tyler has produced a record of 136-23 (85.1 percent) since beginning Division II play in 2020 and have now claimed back-to-back Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championships in 2021 and 2022. The Patriots are 83-12 in Lone Star Conference play since beginning play in the league in 2020.
HEAD COACH MIKE REED
Coach Reed will enter his 19
th season as head coach of the Patriots, and 22nd season as a head softball coach at the collegiate level in 2022.
Reed ranks fifth among all NCAA divisions in career winning percentage (.837), posting an 836-172 career mark through 22 career seasons. He owns the third-highest all-time win percentage among Division III coaches, coaching 18 of his 22 seasons at the Division III level, and is a nine-time American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year and eight-time NFCA Regional Coach of the Year. He has helped develop 33 All-Americans, 91 all-region and 149 all-conference selections and has led the UT Tyler program to the NCAA World Series in eight of the 12 years since the Patriots became postseason eligible in Division III.. He is 731-141 (.837) in his 19 seasons as head coach the Patriots and has seen his staff named the Regional Coaching Staff of the Year by the NFCA on eight different occasions (2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022).
