LONGWOOD, FLA. – The University of Texas at Tyler claimed the 2024 NCAA Division II Softball National Championship with a 10-1 victory over #13 Western Washington on Saturday afternoon in Longwood, Fla.
 
The Patriots complete the 2024 NCAA Division II National Tournament a perfect 10-0, including a 5-0 record at the 2024 NCAA Division II World Series. UT Tyler claimed the second national championship in program history on Saturday, adding the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championship to a 2016 NCAA Division III National Championship.
 
UT Tyler completes the season with a 58-8 overall record.
 
Saturday's 10-1 victory over #13 Western Washington closed out a 2-0 best-of-three series for UT Tyler over the Vikings and capped off a 2024 NCAA DII World Series in which the Patriot's out-scored their opposition by a 30-to-5 final tally. Junior Christin Haygood, who was named the 2024 NCAA DII World Series Tournament Most Valuable Player, carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and notched her fourth complete game of the tournament.
 
UT Tyler was led offensively by All-Tournament Team member Courtney Plocheck, who capped off her Patriot career with a 3-for-3 effort at the plate. Plocheck, JT Smith and Michelle Arias combined to go 8-for-10 in the three, four and five spots of the UT Tyler line-up.
 
The Patriots immediately put pressure on the Vikings, scoring the first run of the game on an RBI walk from Clarissa Zapata with the bases loaded in the top of the second and then made it 2-0 with back-to-back doubles from Plocheck and Smith to start the third. UT Tyler added two more runs in that third inning on a two-RBI single from Audrey Escamilla after loading the bases for a second inning in a row.
 
Haygood retired the first seven batters she faced and then didn't allow a base hit until the leadoff batter got aboard via a single to start the bottom of the sixth. UT Tyler had already put the game well out of reach by that point, putting two more runs on the board in the top of the sixth with an Arias triple to right that scored Smith and Plocheck and then an Escamilla single to left that made it 7-0.
 
Western Washington managed their lone run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with a double for the second hit of the afternoon.
 
UT Tyler continued to put runs on the board in the top of the seventh, plating a run on an RBI single from Smith, a walk from freshman Makayla Garcia and a sac fly from Escamilla to run the score to it's eventual 10-1 final.
 
Plocheck and Smith each scored three times while Escamilla registered four RBI at the plate. Smith finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored, Arias went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI, and Escamilla 2-for-3 with the aforementioned four RBI.
 
Haygood was named the Tournament MVP, while Plocheck, Arias, Escamilla and Clarissa Zapata were all named to the All-Tournament Team following their efforts in Longwood.