TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler softball swept Sul Ross State on Sunday at Irwin Field, extending their home winning streak to 11 games and moving them to 21-7 on the season and 13-3 in LSC play.
 
GAME ONE: UT Tyler 9 | Sul Ross State 1
 
UT Tyler wasted no time in getting things rolling, scoring five runs in the first inning and scoring a run in all but one inning on their way to a run-rule win in five frames.
 
The Patriots started the game with a single and three walks, the last of which by Taryn Barney to drive in the first run of the game. Kaelyn Lerma stepped in and drove a double down the right field line, plating three runs and making it 4-0. Two batters later, Layne Reh drove home the fifth run of the inning with an RBI single through the right side to make it 5-0.
 
The Lobos answered with their one and only run of the game in the second, getting a double around a pair of outs before a two out rally that included a single, hit by pitch, and a walk to score a run. That rally chased starter Kearston Gooch from the game, making way for Kendall Selitzky, who struck out the final batter to end the inning.
 
The Patriots tacked on another run in their half as Trinity Hale singled to left to bring home Dezirae Lopez. Selitzky kept up her run, getting three strikeouts over the next two innings while allowing just one hit.
 
The Patriots offense went scoreless in the third, but rallied back in the fourth after a leadoff single from Laci Berecochea and then a tape measure home run from Taryn Barney on the first pitch she saw to make it 8-1. In the bottom of the fifth, Lopez played the role of hero, walking off the game on a deep sacrifice fly to center field to score pinch hitter Berlyn Grossman.
 
Eight different players recorded a hit in the game, with Barney and Lerma leading the team in RBI with three each. Both Barney and Lopez also led the team in runs scored with two each.
 
Kendall Selitzky earned her fifth win of the season after going 3.1 innings in relief while allowing just one hit, no runs, and striking out five.
 
GAME TWO: UT Tyler 9 | Sul Ross State 1
 
The Patriots came out swinging again in game two, building up a big lead and then adding one final run in the sixth to post another run-rule effort.
 
UT Tyler again started hot, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. The first scored as Lerma reached on a fielder's choice and a misplay at the plate allowed Kaylee Cavazos to slide in safely. Hale was up next, and she drove one to deep left for a sacrifice fly and the second run. Reh drove home the final two runs of the inning, roping a double down the left field line to make it 4-0.
 
Taryn Barney added another run via her own sacrifice fly in the second to make it 5-0 as the Patriots offense continued to dominate.
 
While the offense stayed hot, game two starter Alli Kimball was strong in the circle. She faced the minimum and struck out one in the first, and worked around a single and an error in the second to post another strikeout and keep the Lobos off the board. She would face just one more than the minimum over the third and fourth, adding another strikeout to her tally and keeping the zeros going.
 
The Patriots in the home half of the fourth opened up the gates again, starting with a Lerma RBI single to right field to score pinch runner Anna Elliott. Three batters later, Lauren Granger drove a two-out single up the middle to plate two more runs and put the Patriots up 8-0 after four.
 
Addison Martindale came on in the fifth for the Patriots and got the first two batters in order, but a two out rally from the Lobos that included two singles and a double scratched a run across to keep the game going. After the Patriots went scoreless in the fifth, Martindale worked out of a big jam in the sixth to put a big zero on the board and give the Patriots the chance to end the game early.
 
Hale would launch a one out single, and was replaced by runner Gracie Cates. Two batters later and with two outs Kiara Wiedenhaupt stepped in as a pinch hitter and drove a single to left to put two on with two outs. Megan Lau stepped into the box with a chance to end it, and chopped a high bouncer to shortstop. She outran the throw for an infield single, and Cates was sent home and called safe on a wide throw at the plate to end the game.
 
Eight different players recorded a hit in game two, led by Reh who had two. Reh and Granger were the two players with two RBI in the contest, and Lerma scored a pair of runs.
 
Alli Kimball moved to 3-1 on the season with her win, allowing just two hits and no runs while striking out three batters.
 
UT Tyler now heads to central Texas for matchups with St. Edward's on Friday, March 20^th and St. Mary's on Sunday, March 22^nd to continue LSC play.