CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE - #1 UT Tyler took down #5 Saginaw Valley 5-3 on Friday afternoon to move to 2-0 and one win away from the championship series.
 
The Patriots lost the coin flip and would be the road team, but it was Saginaw Valley who struck first as they got to starter Kaylee Davis. Davis got out of a big jam in the first as the Cardinals got a runner to third with one out, but a foulout and a popout ended the frame with no damage. In the bottom of the second, the Cardinals would drive a solo homer to left field to make it 1-0.
 
The Patriots stayed resilient, as Miia Campos drew a walk to begin the third. Hailey Fannin came on to pinch run, and moved to second via a sacrifice bunt and then to third on a groundout. That brought up Ka'Lyn Watson, who drilled a double that hopped over the center field wall and tie the game back up.
 
The Cardinals would score again in the bottom of the third, scratching together a pair of singles with two outs to plate a run and make it 2-1. Again however, the Patriots had the answer. Abbie Behe singled through the left side, and then Sam Schott reached on a fielder's choice to set up two outs. That brought up Megan Geyer, who roped a double down the right field line to plate Schott and tie it up yet again.
 
The Cardinals continued their one run innings, this time driving another solo homer to center field to again take the lead at 3-2. That would ultimately drive Davis from the game, and Primrose Aholelei would take over with a walk, strikeout, and popout to end the inning.
 
Just as they had the previous two innings, the Patriots answered again, this time with JT Smith. Smith hammered the first pitch she saw deep over the outfield bleachers in right field and leveled the game.
 
Aholelei would lock it down in the circle, working the first 1-2-3 inning of the game with two lineouts and a flyout to keep the game knotted at three.
 
In the sixth, Behe would leadoff with a double down the left field line and made way for Keona Wells as a pinch runner, but the next two hitters would go down with lineouts. That brought up Miia Campos, who drove her own double off the right field wall to score Wells and give the Patriots the lead. Sam Garcia would step in as a pinch hitter, and she popped up a ball into the sun that fell just behind the circle and Campos rolled all the way around from second to put a big insurance run on the board.
 
Aholelei would continue the big run in the sixth, getting another 1-2-3 frame with a popout, lineout, and a strikeout. The Patriots would go scoreless in the top of the seventh, setting up Aholelei to close out the game. She would walk the first batter, ending a streak of eight straight batters retired. She then got a fielder's choice, a strikeout, and a flyout to end the game and ensure the win.
 
Aholelei moved to 19-1 with her win, going 3.2 innings while allowing no hits, no runs, two walks, and posting three strikeouts over 13 batters faced.
 
Five different players recorded an RBI on the day, five different players recorded a run, and seven different batters recorded a hit. Abbie Behe and Ka'Lyn Watson each led the team with two hits.
 
UT Tyler will now have a day off from competition before returning to action on Sunday. That game will be at 10 a.m. central time against an opponent to be determined.