LONGWOOD, Fla. — The UT Tyler Patriots are the NCAA Division II softball national champions.
For the first time in school history, the Patriots have won the DII national championship after defeating Western Washington two games to none in a best-of-three series.
On Friday, UT Tyler won game one 3-0 behind an stellar pitching performance from Christin Haygood. Haygood pitched a complete game only allowing four hits.
The Patriots won game two 8-1. Clarisa Zapata got the scoring started for UT Tyler in the second inning after she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded which scored Michele Arias.
In the third inning, the Patriots added three more runs. J.T. Smith and Audrey Escamilla both drove in runs to extend the lead to 4-0.
UT Tyler kept the offense going in the sixth inning, Arias hit an 2 RBI triple that scored J.T. Smith and Courtney Plocheck giving the Patriots a 6-0 lead. One batter later, Escamilla singled to left field to bring home Arias.
The Patriots added some insurance runs in the seventh inning to push the lead to 10-1. J.T. Smith had an RBI single followed by a bases loaded hit by pitch from Makayla Garcia and a Audrey Escamilla sacrifice fly out.
Christin Haygood once again got the win for the Patriots in the circle. Haygood pitched a complete game allowing only one run and two hits.
The Patriots finished the season 58-8.