CHATTANOOGA, TENN. - #3 UT Tyler forced the if-necessary game on Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 win over #2 North Georgia before falling by a 2-0 final in the deciding game in the 2023 NCAA Division II World Series semifinals.
The Patriots finish as national semifinalists in each of the first two seasons of postseason eligibility at the NCAA Division II level and finish the year with a 62-6 overall record. No. 3 seeded North Georgia will take on no. 5 seeded Grand Valley State in the best-of-three championship series on Tuesday and Wednesday for the 2023 NCAA Division II National Championship.
UT Tyler claimed a second straight South Central Regional Title, won a third consecutive Lone Star Conference regular season championship, and set the new single-season record for wins in program history with 62 on the year. The Patriots won 37-straight games, the longest win streak in NCAA Division II this season, and earned the no. 1 overall seed at the NCAA DII World Series for a second-consecutive year as well.
Junior
Courtney Plocheck hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning to answer a first-inning run from North Georgia to help force that deciding if-necessary game. Junior
Tatum Goff was spectacular in the circle once again, collecting her 42
nd straight victory, an NCAA Division II record for consecutive wins, and went the complete 7.0 innings against the Nighthawks.
Goff struckout five and allowed just six hits in game one, and then came on in relief of starter
Shea O'Leary in the deciding second game to toss four shutout innings of one-hit softball. The Rusk, Texas native finished the 2023 season with a 42-0 record, a 1.36 ERA and a school-record 248 strikeouts in 267.0 innings pitched.
Goff retired the next six batters in order following the homer from Plocheck to solidify the 3-1 game one victory and forced a game two for a chance at a berth in the championship series. UT Tyler once again put forth an outstanding effort in the circle from Goff and O'Leary, as the duo combined to allow just six hits and struckout six in the 7.0 innings of work.
The Patriots totaled four hits and got a runner aboard in all but two innings, but a pair of RBI singles in the top of third from North Georgia ultimately proved to be the difference in the ballgame.
The historic season comes to a close for UT Tyler after the loss, but the 2023 year certainly will be one to remember in the storied history of the program.
