TYLER, TEXAS – A three-run homer from Michelle Arias broke a 6-2 win for UT Tyler open in game one before Oklahoma Baptist stole a 3-2 victory from the Patriots in game two with a solo blast of their own.
 
The Arias three-run homer came in the bottom of the fifth inning and turned a tightly-contested 3-2 game into a 6-2 win for UT Tyler. Freshman Makayla Garcia provided the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the fourth while junior Christin Haygood picked up another win in relief with 4.0 innings of shutout work in the circle.
 
Oklahoma Baptist hit a solo homer in the top of the seventh inning of game number two in order to steal the one-run victory and snap the Patriot's home winning streak.
 
UT Tyler moves to 26-6 and on the year with the split.
 
Game One
 
Graduate student Courtney Plochecks hit a pair of doubles and scored two runs to highlight the UT Tyler offense in a 6-2 game one victory.
 
Haygood was once again the difference in the circle for the Patriots, moving to 5-0 on the year with her fifth straight win in relief after coming on in the top of the fourth inning. Haygood shut the Bison down from that point, stranding runners on second and third in the fourth inning, and then allowed just one more runner aboard in the fifth, sixth and seventh frames.
 
Oklahoma Baptist tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth with a solo homer off of starter Kaylee Davis prior to the arrival of Haygood. Oklahoma Baptist plated an unearned run in the top of the first on a fielding error by the Patriots, but quickly relinquished the lead with a pair of runs from UT Tyler in the bottom of the first.
 
Plocheck led off the inning with a double, and then scored after a hot shot down the leftfield line by Garcia popped off the Bison third baseman's glove and into the Patriot dugout. That allowed Plocheck to score to tie the game at 1-1, before a Michelle Arias walk with the bases loaded a few batters later gave UT Tyler the 2-1 advantage.
 
The solo homer in the fourth from Oklahoma Baptist made it 2-2, but the Plocheck-Garcia duo struck again for the Patriots in the bottom of the inning. Plocheck hit a second double to leftfield in the game, and then scored on Garcia's second single of the afternoon to make it 3-2.
 
Haygood retired the Bison in order in the top of the fifth after working out of the jam in her first inning in the circle. Walks to leadoff the bottom of the fifth by UT Tyler set the stage for three runs to come across on the Arias no-doubt homerun over the scoreboard at Irwin Field.
 
That broke the game open and allowed Haygood to work freely through the sixth and seventh innings with just a two-out single's worth of damage. The Huffman, Texas native went 4.0 innings, struckout two, and allowed just a single.
 
Garcia went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. UT Tyler notched seven hits in the game.
 
Game Two
 
UT Tyler left the bases loaded twice and saw their 44 straight home winning streak snapped in a 3-2 loss to Oklahoma Baptist in game two.
 
The Patriots stranded 10 runners in the game after posting six hits and drawing four walks as a club. Oklahoma Baptist scored a run in the top of the fifth on a wild pitch and a run in the third on an error by the Patriots, but saw their 2-0 advantage evaporate heading into the seventh.
 
The Bison led off the seventh with the difference maker in the game, a solo homer that made it 3-2. The Patriots scored a run on a wild pitch of their own in the fourth and on an RBI walk in the sixth by Madison Okano to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Starter Genesis Armendariz went the complete seven innings for UT Tyler, allowing just a pair of earned runs while striking out two.
 
UT Tyler loaded the bases in the fourth, scored on the wild pitch to make it 2-1, but couldn't manage any other offense out of the opportunity. The Patriots got just one run out of their second chance with the bases loaded in the sixth as well.
 
Senior Audrey Escamilla and junior Nicole Price combined for four of the six Patriot hits in the game. Escamilla went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Price 2-for-3.
 
Up Next
 
UT Tyler will return to Lone Star Conference play this weekend with a three-game home series against Eastern New Mexico. The series has been pushed back to Saturday and Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday a 12 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.