TYLER, TEXAS – Junior Tatum Goff of UT Tyler softball has been named the 2022-23 Female Athlete of the Year by the UT Tyler athletic department as part of the UT Tyler Athletics Annual Awards.
 
Goff rewrote multiple record books during a historic 2023 season for the Rusk, Texas native, and earned her second straight NFCA First Team All-American accolade in the process. She was named the 2023 NFCA Division II Pitcher of the Year after posting the most wins in a single season without a loss across all levels of NCAA softball with a perfect 42-0 record.
 
The Female Athlete of the Year Award is presented annually to the female student-athlete who is considered the top performer of the year across the department. The UT Tyler Athletics Annual Awards are nominated and voted upon by the department's head coaches.
 
Those 42 wins in 2023 are an NCAA Division II record for most consecutive victories, bettering Bloomsburg's Kim Maguire 40 straight wins from March 23, 1991 – April 8, 1993. Goff led all of Division II softball in 2023 with those 42 wins and ranked seventh in the nation with 248 strikeouts.
 
Her efforts in the circle this spring established one of the best individual seasons in UT Tyler softball history as the lefty set a new program record in wins (42), strikeouts (248), shutouts (14) and innings pitched (267.0). Goff posted a 1.36 ERA in 2023 and managed 23 complete game efforts while limiting batters to just a .184 batting average.
 
Her historic season in the circle garnered a long list of accolades including the aforementioned NFCA First Team All-American selection, a D2CCA Second Team All-American distinction, First Team All-South Central Region selections by both the NFCA and D2CCA, the D2CCA South Central Region Pitcher of the Year Award, the Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Year Award, and an All-Lone Star Conference First Team selection.
 
For her combined efforts on the field and in the classroom Goff was named to the CSC First Team Academic All-American Team, the CSC Academic All-District Team and the Lone Star Conference All-Academic Team.
 
UT Tyler softball utilized the success of Goff in route to a second straight appearance in the NCAA Division II National Semifinals after their second appearance in the NCAA Division II World Series as the no. 1 overall seed in each of the first two seasons of postseason eligibility at the DII level for the program. The Patriots finished the year 62-6 and claimed back-to-back South Central Region Championships, a third-straight Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship and their inaugural Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament Championship.
 
The complete list of UT Tyler athletic department award winners is located below.

Monday, June 12 
 
A.M. – S.A.A.C. Member of the Year (Marissa Agee, Cross Country and Track & FIeld)
P.M. – Men's and Women's Team Scholastic Award (Men's and Women's Tennis)
 
Tuesday, June 13 
 
A.M. – Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Sergio Sola and Lauren Christl)
P.M. – Male and Female Comeback Player of the Year (Egor Shestakov and Meagan Mendazona)
 
Wednesday, June 14
 
A.M. – Male and Female Freshman Athlete of the Year (Kaston Mason and Martha Laremark)
P.M. – Male and Female Individual Single-Game Performance (Meagan Mendazona and Yudai Watanabe)
 
Thursday, June 17 
 
A.M. – Male and Female Service & Leadership Award (Ethan Bedgood and Chloe Dix)
P.M. – Male and Female Athlete of the Year (Gonzalo Fernandez Gil and Tatum Goff)