CANYON, TEXAS – No. 2 seed UT Tyler softball delivered a dream start to the Lone Star Conference Tournament on the heels of a 10-2 win over No. 7 seed St. Mary's on Thursday afternoon.
The two teams went scoreless over the first three and a half innings, with both pitchers doing their part. The Patriots starter
Kendall Selitzky was perfect in her part, sitting down the first 12 batters she faced, with only one of those at-bats going to three balls and also posting a pair of strikeouts.
The Patriots offense broke through in the bottom of the fourth, catching fire at the plate on their way to six runs. The first two came home from
Kaylee Cavazos who drilled a two RBI triple to right field.
Kiara Wiedenhaupt promptly brought her home with an RBI single, and
Laci Berecochea later added another to make it 4-0. The final two runs again came off of an extra base hit, as
Taryn Barney drove one into the right center field gap to make it 6-0.
The Rattlers finally got to Selitzky with one out in the fifth, ending a streak of 13 straight retirements to start the game. Two batters later, they were on the board with an RBI double, and then added another run via an error to cut into the lead and make it 6-2.
In the home half of the fifth, the Patriots got one back as
Kaelyn Lerma homered on the fourth pitch of her at-bat to make it 7-2. In the sixth, the Patriots would tack on three more. Berecochea added another RBI with a double, and Lerma scampered home on a foulout to make it 9-2. The final run would score via an RBI single from
Megan Lau, putting the Patriots up 10-2 and securing the run-rule.
Kendall Selitzky went all six innings while allowing just four hits and two runs while adding two strikeouts.
Berecochea, Barney, Lerma, and Cavazos each recorded two RBI, and both Lau and Berecochea each recorded three hits in the effort.
UT Tyler will now set their sights on No. 3 Angelo State in the semifinal round of the LSC Tournament. That game will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon back at Schaeffer Park in Canyon, Texas.
