AUSTIN, TEXAS – #3 UT Tyler defeated St. Edward's by 9-2 and 3-0 finals on Saturday afternoon to close out their 2023 road schedule with a 23^rd straight victory and ninth straight 3-0 Lone Star Conference series sweep.
 
UT Tyler pulled away in game one with eight runs in their final three trips to the plate for the 9-2 victory, and then rode the arm of junior Tatum Goff to a 3-0 win in game two. Goff moved to 30-0 on the year with a complete game shutout that featured six strikeouts and just three hits allowed.
 
The Patriots will head into the final week of the 2023 regular season with a 46-4 overall record, and a three-game lead over West Texas A&M for first place in the Lone Star Conference regular season standings with a record of 34-2. UT Tyler will welcome Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M International to Irwin Ballpark for a pair of three-game series, while West Texas A&M will have just a single three-game series on the weekend against Cameron.
 
UT Tyler seized control on what was a 1-1 ball game through three complete innings of play in game one with eight runs in their final three trips to the plate, including a five-run top of the sixth inning.
 
St. Edward's struck first with a run in the bottom of the first against game one starter Shea O'Leary, but UT Tyler produced a response in the top of the third with a run of their own on a hit by pitch by Avery Farr with the bases loaded. O'Leary settled into her start after that lone run in the first inning, an unearned score for the Hilltoppers.
 
UT Tyler capitalized on a fielding mistake by the Hilltoppers in the fifth inning to jump ahead 3-1 after Michelle Arias and Courtney Plocheck both came around to score on an error by the St. Edward's first baseman. Plocheck turned around in the sixth and drove in two more runs with her second single of the day, plating JT Smith and Cassidi Mullen to make it 5-2.
 
Farr and Marek completed that five-run top of the sixth inning with singles that scored the final three runs of the frame to make it 8-2. Smith scored on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh to bring the game to it's 9-2 final.
 
O'Leary earned the win with 4.1 innings of work without conceding an earned run, and gave way to relief pitcher Kaylee Davis, who picked up the save with 2.2 innings of shutout work as well. Plocheck was the lone Patriot with a multi-hit day, finishing 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI.
 
Smith scored three times in the game after a 1-for-3 effort that featured an additional two walks.
 
Game two was effectively the Goff show as she collected win no. 30 on the year in dominate style, striking out six over her 7.0 complete innings of work. The Rusk, Texas allowed just three hits, all singles, and didn't allow a runner to advance into scoring position until the sixth inning.
 
Smith scored a pair of runs and had two extra-base hits to highlight a Patriot offense that scored three runs off of six hits. Smith and sophomore Sam Schott both scored in the top of the first to give Goff an early 2-0 lead to work with.
 
That 2-0 lead held all the way until a seventh inning in which Smith leadoff with a triple and then scored on a sac fly from Plocheck to cap of the scoring at 3-0 for the ball game. Plocheck and Farr were both credited with RBI in the game two win.
 
UT Tyler will host Texas A&M-Kingsville for the first of two home series this week on Tuesday and Wednesday.