KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – UT Tyler softball wrapped up a 4-0 weekend with a sweep of Texas A&M-Kingsville on Sunday, snapping the Javelinas seven game win streak in the process as they moved to 13-5 on the season and 5-1 in LSC play.
GAME ONE: UT Tyler 4 | Texas A&M-Kingsville 1
Kearston Gooch was the start of the show in game one, throwing her fourth complete game of the year with six hits, one run, three walks, and two strikeouts to quiet the Javelinas offense.
She would allow her one and only run in the first inning, allowing three singles and a walk in the opening frame to fall behind 1-0. She worked around those with a popout and a strikeout, then ending the frame on a groundout.
She allowed just an infield single in the second around two groundouts and a runner left early, then in the third got a groundout and a popout double play to end the frame. She worked a 1-2-3 fourth, and worked around a leadoff walk in the fifth to keep things limited.
While Gooch dealt in the circle, the Patriots offense got on the board in the top of the fourth, getting two singles to lead off the inning by
Taryn Barney and
Laci Berecochea.
Megan Lau followed with her own infield single on a bunt, and two batters later it was
Dezirae Lopez coming up with the sacrifice fly to tie the game.
Gooch kept dealing in the sixth, getting another double play to wipe off one of the two leadoff singles before a groundout to end the inning. That set up the Patriots offense for a charge in the seventh, led by Lopez who drilled a leadoff homer to left. After a walk,
Kaelyn Lerman drove in another run via an RBI double, and she would later come around to score on a fielding error to push the lead out to 4-1.
Gooch capped off her day with a three-up, three-down frame in the seventh, getting a lineout, flyout, and foulout to end the contest.
Laci Berecochea was the lone Patriot with a pair of hits, going 2-for-4 with a run. Lopez drove in a pair of runs in the contest, and Lerma had the other RBI.
GAME TWO: UT Tyler 5 | Texas A&M-Kingsville 1
After Gooch's stellar performance in game one,
Kendall Selitzky went even better on her way to her third win of the season.
The Patriots got a run to lead off the game as Berecochea delivered an RBI single up the middle to plate Lerma. The Javelinas would get their own run to answer in the home half, getting a single, stolen base, and two wild pitches to plate their only run of the game.
After a
Kaylee Cavazos RBI double to bring home
Keona Wells in the top of the second, Selitzky went 1-2-3 in the home half with her third strikeout in just two innings.
In the top of the third, the Patriots took advantage of Javelinas miscues, putting runners on second and third with one out. Lau drove a single to third, driving home the first run. Next up was
Layne Reh, who took her turn with an RBI as she singled through the left side to make it 4-1.
The Patriots offense added one more run in the fourth, getting a leadoff single from Cavazos before
Taryn Barney drove her home with an RBI single to make it 5-1.
Selitzky stayed near perfect in the circle after getting the big run support. In the third, she got a pair of groundouts and a popout around a single. She followed that up with a 1-2-3 fourth, featuring three straight strikeouts. That kicked off a stretch where she retired 11 straight hitters. The next batter to reach base came with one out in the seventh via a single up the middle, but she got a fielder's choice and a groundout to end the contest and secure the win.
Kendall Selitzky finished the game with her second complete game of the season, going all seven frames while allowing just three hits, one run, one walk, and striking out eight batters.
Kaylee Cavazos was the lone Patriot with two hits, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Four other players recorded an RBI, and six other players recorded at least one hit.
UT Tyler will now focus their attention to their lone LSC series of the week, a home matchup against St. Edward's on February 28
th. That doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
