TYLER, TEXAS - #3 UT Tyler advanced to the 2023 NCAA Division II South Central Super Regional with an exclamation 12-6 victory over #23 Oklahoma Christian to claim the 2023 NCAA DII South Central Regional I title on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Patriot's 34^th win in a row capped off a 3-0 weekend at the NCAA DII South Central Regional and notched a third win over the no. 4 seeded Oklahoma Christian Eagles in their last four outings. Saturday's game was far-and-away the most convincing of the three wins dating back to last weekend's Lone Star Conference Softball Championship Game as UT Tyler led 7-1 and scored in all but one frame.
 
The Patriots will now make a second appearance in the NCAA DII South Central Super Regional in each of the first two years of Division II postseason eligibility for the program. UT Tyler will host that best-of-three series at Irwin Ballpark on May 18-19 against the winner of the NCAA DII South Central Regional II bracket.
 
UT Tyler was relentless offensively on Saturday afternoon, scoring 12 runs off 10 hits against an Oklahoma Christian pitching staff that tossed six shutout innings against the Patriots in the first meeting of the tournament between the two programs on Thursday afternoon. UT Tyler had four extra-base hits, drew 11 walks and scored at least one run in all but one trip to the plate to finish the South Central Regional unbeaten.
 
The top of the Patriot lineup was particularly effective, as JT Smith, Sam Schott, Courtney Plocheck and Michelle Arias were responsible for seven of the 10 hits and eight of the runs scored in the ballgame for UT Tyler. Junior Tatum Goff got the start in the circle and collected a UT Tyler softball single-season record 37^th win.
 
Senior Shea O'Leary went 2.2 innings of relief before Goff returned for the final inning of work. The duo allowed just three earned runs in the contest and conceded six hits.
 
UT Tyler scored in each of their first two trips to the plate on RBI doubles from Michelle Arias and JT Smith. Oklahoma Christian answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first to run the score to 2-1, a mark that would hold through the first three innings of play.
 
Smith put another run on the board in the top of the four with an RBI single, and then watched as senior Avery Farr broke the game open with a bases-clearing double that made it 6-1 in favor of UT Tyler.
 
Both teams kicked it in gear offensively from that point forward as each respective pitching staff struggled against a pair of talented offenses that were kept quiet in the most recent meeting between the two clubs. UT Tyler outscored Oklahoma Christian 6-to-5 over that stretch of the final three innings to negate any chance at an Eagle comeback.
 
Arias finished the day 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI, while Smith with 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored. Plocheck added the third multi-hit effort for the Patriots with a 2-for-4 outing that featured a pair of runs scored.
 
UT Tyler is now two wins away in next week's NCAA DII South Central Super Regional from a return trip to the NCAA DII World Series. The Patriots will meet either no. 3 seeded West Texas A&M or no. 2 seeded Colorado Christian at Irwin Ballpark.