TYLER, TEXAS - #5 UT Tyler wrapped up a fourth straight Lone Star Conference series sweep on Wednesday afternoon with 8-2 and 2-1 victories over Texas Woman's at Irwin Field.
 
The Patriots extended their season win streak to 13 straight, and Division II softball's longest active home winning streak to 43 straight. Freshman Makayla Garcia went 4-for-8 from the plate on the day and capped off the series with a walk-off single that plated Cassidi Mullen in the bottom of the seventh inning in game two.
 
Graduate student Genesis Armendariz helped guide the Patriots to an 8-2 win in game one with a complete 7.0 innings of effort in the circle, scattering just three hits along the way.
 
Game One
 
UT Tyler used a five-run third inning and a three-run fifth inning to compliment Armendariz's solid start in the circle to win 8-2.
 
The Patriots needed just six hits to plate those eight runs, drawing seven walks and an additional two hit by pitches to constantly keep the pressure on the Pioneers. Garcia was the lone Patriot to notch multiple hits, finishing game one 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.
 
A costly throwing error by UT Tyler allowed Texas Woman's to plate the first run of the game in the top of the third, but Armendariz worked out of what could have been a costly jam and stranded the bases loaded. The Patriots quickly answered with five runs off of just a single hit in the bottom of the third, capitalizing on a pair of errors on the Pioneers.
 
Garcia led off the inning with the lone hit, and then scored on an RBI walk by Michelle Arias with the bases loaded. A wild pitch scored the go-ahead run on the ensuing at-bat, before freshman Madison Okano made it 3-1 with a sacrifice fly to rightfield that scored junior JT Smith.
 
The big damage in the inning came on a dropped fly ball in leftfield with two outs that allowed a pair of Patriots to come home and ran the score to 5-1.
 
A solo homer to leadoff the top of the fourth after the big inning at the plate for UT Tyler cut the lead to 5-2, but Armendariz retired the next eight batters she faced in order to silence any momentum from the Pioneer offense.
 
UT Tyler strung together four of their six hits in the game in a row in the bottom of the fifth, three of which were doubles, to extend the advantage out to it's eventual 8-2 final. Plocheck and Garcia got the rally started with doubles to left field and were followed up by a single from junior Sam Schott and the final double of the inning from senior Audrey Escamilla.
 
Armendariz worked around a walk in the sixth and a single in the seventh to close the books on her outstanding outing. The Hobbs, N.M. native struckout three and conceded just a single earned run.
 
Game Two
 
An RBI single from Garcia provided the walk-off victory for UT Tyler in the 2-1 game two final.
 
Garcia plated Mullen, the two Patriots that notched multi-hit efforts, after Mullen led off the inning with a triple to rightfield. Texas Woman's scored their lone run of the game on a solo homer in the second, but a costly error by the Pioneer defense allowed UT Tyler to tie it up at 1-1 in the third.
 
Starter Kaylee Davis matched the Texas Woman's pitching effort step-for-step in the early innings, but found trouble in the top of the sixth after a leadoff double for the Pioneers. A sac bunt moved the potential go-ahead run over to third and an ensuing walk brought on reliever Christin Haygood for UT Tyler.
 
Haygood grounded out the ensuing batter to third base, freezing the runner at third, and then struckout the third out of the inning to keep the 1-1 tally in place. The Huffman, Texas native retired all five of the batters she faced in the game in order, striking out three, and moved to 2-0 on the year following the Patriot walk-off in the seventh.
 
Mullen provided the leadoff triple and the energy for the Patriots in that bottom of the seventh, as an ensuing pair of walks loaded the bases for Garcia with one out. Garcia delivered with a single up the middle and made the outstanding effort from Davis and Haygood in the circle count.
 
Garcia finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and Mullen 2-for-3 with a run scored.