TYLER, Texas – Coming back from a 1-0 best-of-three series deficit, the UT-Tyler Patriots overpowered the Linfield Wildcats twice on Saturday to wrap up the program's fourth straight NCAA Super Regional championship at Suddenlink Field.
Riding the arm of pitching ace
Shelby Saylors, Linfield had taken a 1-0 series lead with a 3-0 shutout of UT-Tyler Friday. Saturday, the Patriots rallied with two clutch performances, coming from behind for a 7-2 win in Game 2, then blanking the Wildcats 2-0 in the deciding contest.
UT-Tyler (43-3) advances to next week's NCAA Finals, which starts Thursday in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Patriots are matched against top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan, the defending national champion in the opening game of the national tournament.
Linfield saw its season derailed by UT-Tyler in the Super Regionals for the second time in three years. The Wildcats season end their season with a record of 39-10.
"I'm obviously extremely proud of this team," said Wildcats coach
Jackson Vaughan. "We've come a long ways this year. Having games go down to the wire with a chance to win the Super Regional makes me extremely proud of their effort.
"But not coming out on the winning end is equally disappointing. It felt like we had every opportunity to win the series. That's how this game goes sometimes. Hats off to Tyler and their pitching, they got the job done."
GAME 1: UT-Tyler 7, Linfield 2
A six-run explosion in the Patriots' half of the seventh inning turned a nip-and-tuck ballgame game into a lopsided result.
Andrea Gonzales went 3 for 4 and sister Theresa Gonzales drove in three runs to pace UT-Tyler.
Jacinda Swiger accounted for two of the Wildcats' five hits and
Melanie Oord hit her eighth homer of the season in the third.
Linfield nursed a 2-1 advantage into the final frame, only to watch in horror as UT-Tyler reeled off five straight hits and plated six runs in the inning. Ashley Perez's double drove home a run that tied the score at 2. Makayla Dominguez followed with a single to left field and Theresa Gonzales spanked a double moments later that scored two more runs.
Wildcats pitcher
Shelby Saylors had looked comfortable in the circle for the first six innings, fanning seven Patriots to equal a season-high. But the wheels came off Saylors' wagon in the seventh as UT-Tyler, the nation's top hitting team across all divisions of NCAA, began to fully assert itself.
Linfield plated an unearned run on UTT starter Whitney Romero in the first inning. After
Cheyenne Fletcher singled then was sacrificed to second base by Oord, Fletcher eventually scored when
Makenna Clizer's chopper was mishandled by Patriots shortstop Hannah Moore.
In the Wildcats' third, Oord blasted a solo home run over the right field wall to put Linfield in front a 2-0.
As the game wore on, Saylors began to tire in the 90-degree Texas heat. UT Tyler cut the Linfield lead in half in the sixth when Gonzales drove home Natalie Romeo.
Saylors suffered her first pitching defeat in more than two months, falling to 24-6. That snapped a 19-game winning streak for the junior righthander. She was replaced by
Eliza Rossman with one out in the top of the seventh, but not before the damage had been done.
GAME 2: UT-Tyler 2, Linfield 0
Colleen Bentke outdueled Rossman for five innings before Miranda Neal came on in relief of Bentke to start the sixth. The two Patriots held the Wildcats to four hits on the way to the shutout victory.
Swiger delivered a pair of singles. Oord and Clizer recorded the other two Linfield base hits.
Nicole Garcia doubled to lead off the first inning and advanced to third on a sacrifice by Victoria Gonzales. Perez then lofted a sacrifice to right field, enabling Garcia to score and the Patriots led 1-0.
Clizer doubled with one out in the top of the second, then scooted to third on a ground out by
Paige Smotherman. But
Chelsea Horita fouled out to end the inning, halting the Wildcats' early momentum.
The following inning, Swiger singled and stole second base, placing a Linfield runner in scoring position for the third straight inning. But Fletcher grounded out to first base and Swiger was thrown out trying to steal third.
In the UT-Tyler third, the Patriots put two runners aboard with two outs but Perez lined out into the glove of Swiger in left field.
Andrea Gonzales singled in the Patriots' fourth and Theresa Gonzales tapped another single that deflected off the leg of Rossman, putting two runners on base. But Moore lined out to the deep left corner but Swiger was waiting to record the third out.
Linfield put the tying run at third base in the second and sixth innings. Each time, the Patriots were able to wriggle out of the situation.
The big blow game in the bottom of the sixth when Perez hammered her 18th home run of the season to make it 2-0.
"There's not a classier program or one we have more respect for than Linfield," said Patriots coach Mike Reed afterward. "Anytime you can hold them scoreless, that's almost unheard of."
'Cat Scratch
With her 66th run of the season, Fletcher moved up to No. 3 on the single-season list for runs scored, surpassing 2007 All-American Stephanie Rice. . .the Wildcats are expected to return to Oregon early Sunday.
