OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA. - #5 UT Tyler followed up a marathon 6-5 victory over Oklahoma Christian in 10 innings with a dominant 9-0 game two win to extend a now 15-game winning streak on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Patriots tied the game in the top of the seventh inning on a two-run homer from JT Smith to force what would be an eventful extra innings of softball in game one, and then used a complete effort from the top to the bottom of the lineup in game two to run away with the win. Christin Haygood and Genesis Armendariz picked up the wins in the circle as Haygood continued her stellar relief work in game one and Armendariz pitched a complete game shutout in game two.
 
Smith went 4-for-8 on the day with two homers and five RBI to spearhead the Patriot offense.
 
Game One
 
Courtney Plocheck plated the winning run for UT Tyler in a 10-inning marathon 6-5 victory for the Patriots in game one.
 
Junior JT Smith tied the game in the top of the seventh with a two-run homer after UT Tyler fell behind 5-3 at the end of the sixth inning. That 5-5 score held through the eighth and ninth innings before a Courtney Plocheck double plated Nicole Price from second base for the go-ahead and ultimate winning run.
 
UT Tyler needed a great defensive effort to see that 10^th inning as Oklahoma Christian nearly ended the ball game in the bottom of the eighth. A single to leftfield with runners on first and second for the Eagles nearly provided the walk-off win, but the runner rounding third base held up and allowed the throw home to be corralled by catcher Audrey Escamilla.
 
Escamilla threw down to second to try and get the advancing runner from first and second that rounded second base on what looked like a clear play at home plate. The runner that stopped halfway between third and home then tried to advance home after the throw down to second, but was tagged out attempting to get back to third base after being caught in a pickle between third and home for the third out of the inning.
 
That wild sequence of events to end the eighth sent the game to a quiet ninth inning in which both teams went down in order, before Plocheck drove in Price for the eventual winning run in the top of the 10^th. Price returned to the game after sophomore Taryn Barney pinch hit to lead off the inning and advanced on via a fielding error by the Eagles.
 
Junior Christin Haygood earned the win after 4.1 innings of shutdown relief effort. Haygood didn't allow a single earned run, scattering just three hits, and moved to 3-0 on the year with the victory.
 
UT Tyler took their first lead of the game in the top of the fourth on a two-run homer by Michelle Arias. A double from Madison Okano later in the frame made it 3-1 in favor of the Patriots, seizing the advantage after the Eagles struck for a run in the bottom half of the first to hold a 1-0 lead up to that point.
 
Oklahoma Christian eventually regained the advantage after a run in the fifth and a three-run bottom of the sixth inning that sent the Patriots to their final chance at the plate down 5-3.
 
Starter Kaylee Davis found trouble in the bottom of the sixth after an RBI single with two outs tied the game at 3-3. Haygood came on In relief and looked to quickly retire the ensuing batter, but a costly fielding error by the Patriots allowed the Eagles to take their second lead of the game at the end of six innings.
 
Smith sent the game into extras with the second two-run homer of the day for UT Tyler, scoring junior Sam Schott, to give the Patriots a chance in extra innings that they would eventually take advantage of.
 
UT Tyler scored six runs on six hits, five of which went for extra bases. Plocheck, Escamilla and Okano all notched doubles, while Smith and Arias provided the aforementioned two-run homers.
 
Game Two
 
All nine batters in the UT Tyler lineup posted a hit and Genesis Armendariz went the complete seven innings in the circle to shutout Oklahoma Christian by a 9-0 final in game two.
 
The Patriots posted 15 hits as a club, led by Smith's 3-for-4 effort, and seized control for the entirety of the ball game in game two. Armendariz struckout four and scattered six singles to move to 9-3 on the year following the complete game shutout.
 
Smith got the scoring started in the second inning with her second two-run blast of the day and added an RBI single in the fourth to highlight her three RBI effort in the game. Freshman Makayla Garcia finished off that second inning with an RBI single to make it 3-0 at the end of two.
 
That started a chain of RBI singles for the Patriots as the next six runs in the contest would all be put across by way of singles. Scott and Arias added the RBI base knocks around Smith's in the fourth to extend the lead to 7-0, before Clarissa Zapata and Garcia capped off the ball game in the seventh with two more RBI singles that brought the score to it's 9-0 final.
 
Armendariz was rock solid in the circle with the consistent stream of offensive work for the Patriots. The Hobbs, N.M. native stranded a pair of runners on third and never allowed a threat to the UT Tyler lead.
 
Garcia, Cassidi Mullen and Tara Stewart all joined Smith with multi-hit efforts. Smith added a pair of runs scored to her 3-for-4 effort with three RBI.
 
Up Next
 
UT Tyler will seek a fifth straight Lone Star Conference series sweep tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. in the series finale against the Eagles.