TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler softball moved to 28-8 on the year and 20-4 in LSC play after a pair of wins over Midwestern State on Sunday at Irwin Field.
GAME ONE: UT Tyler 7 | Midwestern State 2
The Patriots offense got rolling early, scoring all seven runs in the first four innings. That rush started in the first, where
Layne Reh singled to left field driving home both
Dezirae Lopez and
Taryn Barney.
They would go scoreless in the second, but both
Sydney Linn and
Keona Wells added RBI singles in the third to double the Patriots lead. The big shot came in the fourth after Reh added an RBI walk,
Megan Lau drove a single to right field, plating two more runs and giving the Patriots a 7-0 lead.
While the Patriots offense got off to a hot start,
Alli Kimball was nearly as good in the circle. After a leadoff single to start the game, she got a fielder's choice and then erased two runners with a groundout double play. In the second, she worked around a hit batter and a single, getting a groundout, flyout and strikeout.
She went 1-2-3 in both the third and the fourth, but the Mustangs finally broke through in the fifth. After a single and a walk, a sacrifice bunt moved the runners over with an out, and an error from the Patriots defense allowed two runners to score to cut the lead down to 7-2.
Kimball ended that inning on a fielder's choice, and then followed it up with more brilliance, going 1-2-3 in both the sixth and seventh innings to cap off her third complete game of the season and pick up her sixth win.
She went all seven innings, allowing just three hits and two unearned runs while striking out two and issuing one walk.
Five different Patriots recorded two hits in game one, with
Layne Reh adding three RBI and two runs and
Megan Lau adding two RBI of her own.
GAME TWO: UT Tyler 2 | Midwestern State 1
The Patriots scored a pair of early runs in the second inning, and held on for the narrow win over the final five frames.
That offensive breakthrough was spurred on by singles from both
Megan Lau and
Keona Wells, and
Dezirae Lopez drove home the first run with a single down the line.
Laci Berecochea was up next, and she added another run with an RBI single of her own, this time to center.
Starter
Kendall Selitzky worked a no-hitter through the first three innings, posting three strikeouts over those innings. Her only blemish would be a walk, and both the first and third frames went 1-2-3.
The no-hitter was broken up in the fourth with a leadoff single, but she worked around that hit plus another single and an error to get two flyouts and a popout and keep the Mustangs scoreless.
In the fifth, the Mustangs got two singles before a fielder's choice, and that ultimately forced Selitzky from the game.
Kearston Gooch would take over, and after a walk and a fielder's choice, Midwestern State would get themselves on the board and cut the lead down to 2-1 after five innings.
Gooch saw the first batter of the sixth reach via error, but got a key fielder's choice and then a strikeout and lineout to end the frame and again hold off the Mustangs rally.
The seventh inning provided the biggest test, and the Mustangs got a pair of one out singles to chase Gooch. The Patriots went to
Alli Kimball to close out the contest, and she would walk her first batter to load the bases. Kimball would respond with a huge strikeout, and then got a lineout to third baseman
Kaylee Cavazos to close out the contest and earn the save.
Kendall Selitzky earned her eighth win of the year after going 4.1 innings while allowing four hits, one run, and posting three strikeouts.
Alli Kimball added her second save of the season to her game one win, adding a strikeout.
The Patriots offense scattered five hits amongst five players, while both Lopez and Berecochea each added an RBI.
UT Tyler will head off on a short week this week as they face off with #1 West Texas A&M on Wednesday at 5 and 7 p.m., and then face off with Eastern New Mexico on Friday at 2 and 4 p.m. CT. Both of those series will be on the road.
