LAST TIME OUT
 
Last week saw another brilliant effort for UT Tyler softball as they headed west for the LSC postseason tournament in Canyon, Texas. The Patriots took down #7 seed Cameron 8-0 and #3 seed Angelo State 6-4 to punch their ticket to their third straight LSC Tournament Championship game. In that championship, it was all Patriots, as they ran away with a 13-2 win that took just five innings over #1 seed West Texas A&M. JT Smith and Taryn Barney combined to go 7-for-7 with 6 RBI and 6 runs, and Cera Blanchard tossed a complete game in the circle.
 
ALL-LSC RECOGNITION
 
15 Patriots earned an All-LSC nod at the conference banquet last week, led by Ka'Lyn Watson who earned the LSC Newcomer of the Year award. The eight All-LSC First Team nods are the most in the Division II era and most by the program since 2018. Watson, Sam Schott, Kaylee Davis, JT Smith, Bailey Krolczyk, Cera Blanchard, Taryn Barney, and Primrose Aholelei each earned first team nods and Miia Campos earned a second team nod.
 
Smith, Schott, Krolczyk, and Blanchard were each named to the LSC Golden Glove team, and Schott and Davis were also named to the LSC All-Academic Team.
 
PATRIOTS NOTES AND TRENDS
 

• UT Tyler softball begins the 21st year of the program with an all-time record of 819-151 (.844) dating back to the inaugural 2005 campaign. The Patriots are 224-33 (.869) in five seasons of Division II play and have gone 134-17 (.887) in Lone Star Conference games over that timeframe prior to the 2025 season.
• The Patriots have won 50-plus games in the last two seasons after going 50-5 back in 2015 and have not registered double-digit losses in a season in 13 straight years. 
• UT Tyler has made 13 appearances in an NCAA National Championship Tournament between the Division II and III levels, and have advanced to the NCAA World Series in 10 of those 13 trips.
• Head coach Mike Reed and his staff garnered ATEC/NFCA South Central Regional Coaching Staff of the Year honors for a fourth consecutive season. The honors come in each of the first four complete seasons at the NCAA Division II level. Coach Reed and his staff have been named regional staff of the year by the NFCA on 10 different occasions (2024,2023, 2022, 2021, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2009) dating back to the program's inaugural season in 2005. 
• UT Tyler softball is 363-45 (.889) all-time on their home field at Irwin Field prior to the 2025 season, and completed the 2024 season with a 26-2 mark at their home ballpark. The Patriots are 102-8 (.927) in home Lone Star Conference games and have never lost more than six games at home in a season.
• JT Smith, Sam Schott, Taryn Barney, Angelique Rangel, Hailey Fannin, and Kaylee Davis mark a group of returners with national championship experience as they will look to lead a host of newcomers back to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year.
• Head coach Mike Reed returns for his 21^st season at the helm of the program after previously serving for three seasons as the head coach at East Texas Baptist before taking over at UT Tyler. Reed is 1^st among all NCAA divisions in career winning percentage (.839), posting a 971-186 career mark in 24 career seasons. He owns the second-highest all-time win percentage among Division III coaches, coaching 18 of his 23 seasons at the Division III level, and is a nine-time American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year, and eight-time NFCA Regional Coach of the Year. He has helped develop 37 All-Americans, 112 all-region and 177 all-conference selections.
• The Patriots have been nothing short of dominant through the regular season games. They have allowed more than three runs in a game just four times while scoring at least three runs in all but four games. They rank #1 in Division II in hit by pitches, on-base percentage, triples, and win-loss percentage. They are also ranked inside the top five in ERA, RBI, shutouts, total runs, triples per game, WHIP, RBI per game, scoring, slugging percentage, total sacrifice flies, doubles, and batting average.
• Kaylee Davis is sixth in Division II in ERA at 0.91, and she is 6^th in WHIP at 0.83. JT Smith leads Division II in triples, runs, and runs per game and is second in hit by pitches.
• This week marks the fourth straight season that UT Tyler will host a portion of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament. The Patriots have won the NCAA South Central Region each of the last three seasons, including a magical run in 2024 that led to the NCAA Divison II World Series title.

 
THE ROADRUNNERS
 

• MSU Denver has earned the #8 seed in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament and will compete in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.
• The Roadrunners ended the season 41-15 overall and 34-9 in RMAC play. They finished the RMAC tournament 2-2 and bowed out in the semifinal round.
• This will be the third time that UT Tyler and MSU Denver will square off, with both previous meetings coming at the DII First Pitch Invite in 2023 and 2024. The two teams split their previous two meetings.
• Jaden Geist is the team leader at the plate, hitting .462 in 48 games. She has 14 doubles, one triple, and 11 homers to go with 40 RBI and 42 runs. She is slugging .838 and is getting on base at a .549 clip.
• In the circle, the leader is Natalie Romero. Romero has an ERA of 1.97 and is 20-3 in 30 appearances with 18 complete games. She has thrown 163.2 innings while striking out 96 hitters and holding them to a .233 average.
• The Roadrunners are led by head coach Annie Van Wetzinga. She is the program's all-time leader in wins and has led the program to now four NCAA Tournament appearances. She is 567-373 in 18 total seasons, 12 of which have come at MSU Denver.