CANYON, TEXAS – UT Tyler softball has earned their second LSC Tournament Title in program history after a 13-2 win over #1 seed West Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon.
 
The two teams would battle to a 1-1 draw through the first inning. JT Smith led off the game with a double to center, and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. That brought up Taryn Barney, who slapped a single into right field to drive home Smith and put the Patriots in front. The Lady Buffs battled back in the home half, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly to even the game.
 
In the second inning, the game busted open in the Patriots favor as they scored seven runs and took an 8-1 lead. A walk and a double with one out put to into scoring position, and Sam Garcia singled to bring home a run. JT Smith would draw a walk to load the bases, and two batters later Barney came through yet again with an RBI single. Bailey Krolczyk followed as she drilled a single through the right side for two more runs, and the Patriots led 5-1.
 
After a Lady Buffs pitching change, Sam Schott kept the rally going with an RBI single of her own to make it 6-1. Miia Campos would tack on the final runs of the inning as she tripled down the left field line to make it 8-1 after two.
 
The offense continued to roll in the third, as two singles from Abbie Behe and Angelique Rangel led off the frame. Next up was JT Smith, and she capitalized with a tape measure home run to right center field to run it up to 12-1. Three batters later, Krolczyk brought home Taryn Barney after back to back doubles to make it 13-1 after just three innings.
 
While the Patriots bats were on fire, Cera Blanchard locked down the Lady Buffs to keep the Patriots up in the game. In the bottom of the second, she worked a 1-2-3 inning. In the third, she worked around a pair of singles and a walk and got a lineout and a popout to keep the zero on the board.
 
She worked another 1-2-3 frame in the fourth, and the Patriots stacked on one more run in the top of the fifth as Barney slugged a double into the gap to plate Smith. In the home half, Blanchard trotted out and got the leadoff batter out, and two singles and an RBI groundout would get two outs. The final out of the game would be a groundout back to Blanchard, and the Patriots won the LSC Tournament Title.
 
Taryn Barney went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two runs, and three RBI. JT Smith went 3-for-3 with four runs, three RBI, a double, and a homer. Bailey Krolczyk also had three RBI, and Miia Campos added two RBI and a triple.
 
Cera Blanchard went all five innings, allowing just one earned run and two runs total while giving up five hits and three walks.
 
JT Smith was named the tournament MVP for her efforts throughout the week. She was joined by Taryn Barney, Cera Blanchard, Abbie Behe, and Miia Campos.