TYLER, TEXAS - #3 UT Tyler advances back to the NCAA Division II World Series as champions of the South Central Region following a 6-2 win over #9 West Texas A&M on Friday afternoon.
The Patriots claimed the South Central Regional Title for a second year and will return to the NCAA Division II World Series for a second appearance in each of the first two seasons of Division II postseason eligibility for the program. The Patriots extended their win streak to 35 straight with the game two win over the no. 3 seeded Lady Buffs in the 2023 NCAA DII South Central Super Regionals.
UT Tyler will head to Chattanooga, Tenn. on May 25-31 for the eight-team double elimination bracket to be contested inside Frost Stadium at Warner Park. Seeds and game times for the championship will be announced early next week.
The Patriots claimed back-to-back regional titles on Friday afternoon at Irwin Ballpark thanks to a quick start from the offense and another stellar outing in the circle from
Tatum Goff and
Shea O'Leary. UT Tyler plated four runs in their first two trips to the plate and managed 10 hits throughout the ball game.
Goff moved to 39-0 on the year with 5.0 complete innings of work, and then gave way to O'Leary for 2.0 shutout innings of relief effort in the sixth and seventh. O'Leary collected her second save of the South Central Super Regional, running her total to five on the year.
Junior
Courtney Plocheck hit a pair of RBI singles in her first two at-bats of the day to give UT Tyler a 4-0 advantage after two complete innings. The first of which came in the top of the first, scoring sophomore
Sam Schott from second.
Sophomore
Maddie Melton hit a two-run homer in the top of the second to make it 3-0 before another RBI single from Plocheck later in the frame extended the advantage to 4-0.
West Texas A&M homered in the bottom of the second, a solo shot that made it 4-1, but quickly slowed offensively as Goff retired the next eight batters in order. Junior
Audrey Escamilla's RBI single in the fifth added to the 5-1 lead for the Patriots.
West Texas A&M cut the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double, but O'Leary stepped into the circle in relief of Goff at that point and retired the next three batters that stepped to the plate.
O'Leary allowed a pair of singles in the bottom of the seventh after an insurance run from UT Tyler in the top of the inning on an RBI double from junior
Michelle Arias. O'Leary stranded those two runners with a groundout and a strikeout to punch the ticket to Chattanooga for the Patriots.
UT Tyler will head to the 2023 NCAA DII World Series as the Lone Star Conference Regular Season, LSC Postseason Tournament and NCAA South Central Regional Champions. The Patriots are 59-4 on the year, a program record for wins in a single season.
Plocheck, Schott and Arias all recorded two hits in the contest to lead the UT Tyler offense. Plocheck finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of RBI, while Schott went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
Seedings and game times for the NCAA DII World Series will be announced early next week via uttylerpatriots.com.
