CONROE, TEXAS - #1 UT Tyler softball is 1-1 after the first day of the 2026 DII First Pitch Invitational as they fell 9-5 to Saint Martin's before responding with a dominant 10-2 win over Simon Fraser.
 
GAME ONE
 
UT Tyler got their season off to a bumpy start, with Saint Martin's taking charge early in the first game of the year. The Saints lead off the game with a solo blast to right center, giving them a lead they would never relinquish.
 
Starter Kendall Selitzky battled back after the opening blast with a scoreless second, but a two-out, two-RBI triple in the top of the third inning from the Saints pushed their lead out to 3-0. She would get one out in the fourth before allowing another triple, leading to her exiting the game for reliever Alli Kimball.
 
The Saints tacked on two more in the inning, getting another big extra-base hit down the left field line before adding an RBI infield single to make it 5-0 after the top half of the fourth.
 
The Patriots offense posted one baserunner in each of the first three innings, including putting a runner on second with no outs in the second inning, but were unable to cash in the run. Their first run of the season came in the bottom of the fourth, as Taryn Barney tattooed a homer over the left field wall to make it 5-1.
 
Lauren Granger tacked on her own solo blast in the bottom of the fifth, but that would only cut the lead back down to four as the Saints added another key run in the top half of the frame. The Saints added another in the sixth from another RBI triple to make it 7-2, while the Patriots again kept things going as Kaelyn Lerma and Keona Wells doubled in back-to-back at-bats to cut the lead down to 7-4.
 
The Saints continued to chip away at the Patriots in the seventh, tacking on two huge insurance runs via a two-RBI single with two outs to expand the lead back out to five runs.
 
The Patriots would add one more run in the home half of the seventh thanks to another solo blast from Barney, but ultimately they would fall 9-5 in their season opener.
 
Barney went 2-for-4 with two solo homers, and Kiara Wiedenhaupt went 2-for-3 with a double and a single.
 
GAME TWO
 
That late offense in game one seemed to spur the Patriots on in game two, where they exploded for 10 runs over the first two innings to coast to a run-rule win over Simon Fraser for their first win of the year.
 
Layne Reh led off with a walk and Megan Lau dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move her over. What followed was a Patriots slugfest, as Granger, Barney, Sydney Linn, Sam Garcia, and Lerma each doubled in the first inning to drive home five total runs as they jumped all over the Red Leafs. They would tack on more run as Keona Wells reached on an error to allow Lerma to score, making it 6-0 after one.
 
The Patriots picked it up again in the second, with Granger throwing in an RBI triple while both her and Barney would score on passed balls and then Garcia came around to score on an error to make it four runs in the inning and a 10-0 Patriots lead.
 
While the Patriots were delivering at the plate, Kearston Gooch twirled a gem in the circle. She struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 first, then worked around a bases loaded two-out jam in the second with a fielder's choice to keep the Red Leafs scoreless.
 
The leadoff hitter singled to begin the third, but again Gooch was flawless as she got a foulout, strikeout, and groundout to end the frame. In the fourth, she tacked on another zero to the board, adding two more strikeouts to her total and ensuring the Patriots big lead would last into the fifth.
 
Kaylee Harris would come on to close out the contest in that fifth inning, but the Red Leafs found some late momentum to drive home a pair of runs on two doubles, a single, and a groundout. That rally would bring Gooch back into the game, and she answered the call with a groundout and one final strikeout to ensure the run-rule win at 10-2.
 
Gooch finished her day with 4.2 innings, five hits, two walks, six strikeouts, and no runs allowed in her debut with the Patriots.
 
Granger went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs with a double and a triple.
 
Seven different Patriots tallied eight total hits, with six of those going for extra bases in a strong slugging day.
 
UT Tyler will now move ahead to day two tomorrow as they take on Mississippi College and Simon Fraser at 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. back at ScrapYard Sports Complex in Conroe, Texas.