CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE - #1 UT Tyler will start the NCAA Division II World Series 1-0 and move into the winners bracket after a 6-5 win over #8 Western Washington on Thursday.
 
UT Tyler would turn to senior Cera Blanchard to start the contest, and she worked around a walk in the first inning to get the Patriots to the plate in the bottom of the first after a shutout inning. The Patriots began with two straight walks but saw the next two batters go down in order. That brought up Abbie Behe, who sent the third pitch she saw over the left field wall for a three run blast and her third homer of the season.
 
Blanchard would again work a scoreless second, but in the third the Vikings scratched across a pair of runs with an RBI double and later an RBI single, ultimately chasing her from the game and making way for Primrose Aholelei. Aholelei would start her outing with a big strikeout, ending the inning.
 
The Vikings would again strike in the third, slugging a two out, three run homer to left field to take the lead for the first time in the contest.
 
The Patriots would battle back in the home half of the fourth as Sam Schott led off with a single and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt and then came around to score via a Megan Geyer RBI single up the middle.
 
Aholelei would settle in strong in the fifth, working the first 1-2-3 inning of the game. That set up the Patriots in the home half, and they plated a quick run as Bailey Krolczyk doubled off the left field wall to plate Ka'Lyn Watson.
 
Berlyn Grossman would take over as a pinch runner and moved over to third via a wild pitch. Behe would again play catalyst, this time hitting a soft grounder between the first base line and the pitcher, allowing Grossman to scamper home and score to allow the Patriots to take the lead back for good.
 
Aholelei would strike out the side in the sixth around a single, and then got two flyouts and another strikeout in the seventh to put the clamps down on the Patriots win.
 
Aholelei moved to 18-1 on the year with the win after going 4.1 innings while allowing three hits, three runs, one walk, and striking out eight.
 
Abbie Behe drove in four of the six runs for the Patriols on the day, including three via her home run. Bailey Krolczyk and Megan Geyer would add RBI, while Ka'Lyn Watson led the Patriots with two hits and two runs scored.
 
UT Tyler will be back in action on Friday at 11 a.m. central time as they take on #5 seed Saginaw Valley.