CANYON, TEXAS – UT Tyler softball moves to 17-2 on the year and 8-2 in LSC play after a doubleheader split with #7 West Texas A&M on Friday evening.
 
GAME ONE
 
Game one of the day would see the Patriots capitalize early and often, scoring runs in each of the first five innings on their way to a win.
 
It took just three batters for UT Tyler to take the lead in game one, as JT Smith led off with a single before moving over to second base by a Sam Schott sacrifice bunt. That led Bailey Krolczyk to bring home Smith with an RBI single up the middle.
 
In the home half, Primrose Aholelei began her day with a strikeout, and worked an eventual 1-2-3 inning as she gave up a single to the third hitter but that hitter was thrown out by Schott trying to extend the hit to a double.
 
In the second inning, the Patriots added another pair of runs, this time as Schott drove home both Sam Garcia and Jordyn De Los Santos on an RBI fielder's choice to second base.
 
Aholelei worked another scoreless frame in the second, setting up the offense to continue their strong start. Ka'Lyn Watson led off that third inning with a deep home run to left center to make it 4-0. Later in the inning, Miia Campos took her turn in coming up clutch, driving home Berlyn Grossman with a single through the left side to make it 5-0 Patriots.
 
The Lady Buffs finally got on the board in the third inning, hitting a pair of solo home runs off of Aholelei to break up her strong start to the contest. She would respond with a pair of strikeouts in the frame to hold the Lady Buffs offense to just the two runs.
 
In the fourth, scored another pair of runs as they got back the two the Lady Buffs found in the third. Schott, Krolczyk, and Watson led off with a walk and two singles, and two batters later De Los Santos came through with a single through the right side to drive home two.
 
In the fourth, Aholelei got back to her dominant ways, striking out another batter and working a 1-2-3 frame.
 
That set up the Patriots to score their final two runs of the contest in the fifth inning, as Watson came up with another clutch single to right field that plated both Schott and Smith and allowed the Patriots lead to climb to 9-2.
 
The Lady Buffs would scratch one run across in the home half to make it 9-3, and neither team would plate a run in the sixth inning, marking the first time all night that neither side scored a run in an inning.
 
The Patriots went down in order in the top of the seventh inning, handing the ball back to Aholelei for the final frame in game one. Two doubles and a walk loaded the bases with no outs, and a sacrifice fly made it 9-4. Another single would load the bases yet again, and the Lady Buffs cleared the bases with a grand slam to suddenly cut the lead to 9-8.
 
That big shot chased Aholelei from the game, as the Patriots brought on Kaylee Davis to shut down the rally. She answered the call, striking out her first hitter and getting the last to pop out, ending the game.
 
Ka'Lyn Watson led the Patriots with a 3-for-5 effort that included three RBI. Smith, Krolczyk, De Los Santos, and Campos each recorded two hits, and De Los Santos also added two RBI.
 
Primrose Aholelei got her ninth win of the season to move to 9-0, and Davis picked up her second save of the season.
 
GAME TWO
 
For all of the offense in game one, game two was nearly the exact opposite. Neither team would score a run over the first six innings of the contest as both starting pitchers were nearly lights out in the circle.
 
The Patriots in the first inning got a hit-by-pitch and a single from the combo of Krolczyk and Watson, but could not take advantage of the two out situation.
 
That set up Cera Blanchard to head out for her first pitch of the contest, and she delivered a pair of strikeouts and a popout to set down the side in order.
 
That would be the story of the contest for Blanchard over the first six innings, with her only bump in the road coming in the fifth inning. In the first four, Blanchard never allowed more than one runner to reach base, striking out five total batters along the way as she continued to put up zeros on the board.
 
In the fifth inning, the Lady Buffs led off with a triple to right field, but Blanchard answered with a strikeout. The next batter grounded a pitch to third base, and Campos went straight home with the throw to get the key out at home. Blanchard would then issue a walk, but got a groundout to Campos at third to end the inning with no damage done yet again.
 
In the sixth, neither side was able to crack the code. The Patriots would get a leadoff hit by pitch and move that runner over with a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, but couldn't get the big two out hit. The Lady Buffs would leadoff with a single, but Blanchard added two groundouts and a strikeout to shut down any hopes of a rally.
 
In the top of the seventh, the Patriots started with a groundout and a strikeout, but Schott was hit by a pitch with two outs to keep the inning alive. She would move over to second on a wild pitch, but Bailey Krolczyk came up huge with a missile home run to center field to make it 2-0 Patriots heading into the bottom of the seventh.
 
The Lady Buffs led off their half with a double before Blanchard posted her eighth strikeout of the game for the first out, that strikeout was combined with a throwdown to third base that caught the runner trying to steal, and suddenly the Patriots had a blank slate and two outs.  A single and a walk would put a pair of runners on, and a single that just found its way to the outfield would allow the first run to cross.
 
That run would see the Patriots bring on Kaylee Davis for the second time on the day, and she would walk the first batter to load the bases. The next batter fought off a tough 0-2 pitch and just lifted it into right field, allowing the Lady Buffs to walk off the game with the hit.
 
Both Krolczyk and Watson recorded a pair of hits, with Krolczyk having the big two run homer.
 
Cera Blanchard ultimately took the loss despite the strong game. She finished with 6.2 innings pitched, seven hits, three runs, and eight strikeouts to two walks.
 
#1 UT Tyler will now look to reset after the tough split by heading to Wichita Falls to take on Midwestern State on Sunday afternoon. That doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m.