SOFTBALL: YellowJackets fall at No. 8 UT Tyler
TYLER, Texas -- The No. 8-ranked Texas-Tyler Patriots snapped LeTourneau's five-game winning streak Saturday by sweeping an ASC East doubleheader from the YellowJackets.
At the UT Tyler Softball Ballpark, the Patriots took Saturday's contests by scores of 14-4 and 11-3.
UT Tyler (13-3), ranked No. 8 in Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, improved to 5-1 in the American Southwest Conference's East Division.
The YellowJackets' overall record returned to .500, as the team is now 9-9, with a 2-6 record in ASC East play.
The first game saw the Patriots score four runs in the first inning and four runs in the third to take an 8-2 lead. The Jackets responded with two more runs in the top of the fourth, only to see UT Tyler finish the game early with a six-run fifth inning.
Ashley Endsley's three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning clinched the game for the Patriots.
The Jackets got RBIs from Jourdan Glover and Chloe Cooper in the top of the second inning to cut Tyler's lead to 4-2.
Glover later scored in the top of the fourth when Brooklyn Greene reached on an error. Greene herself later scored on Juliana Tuel's RBI.
Glover, Tuel and Anna Winter all knocked two base hits in Saturday's game one.
Heather Abshire picked up the win for the Patriots, pitching all five innings and allowing no earned runs. Taylor Thibodeaux started and absorbed the loss for the Jackets.
In game two, the Patriots jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings and then claimed a six-inning win.
Katelyn Thomason pitched all six innings to pick up the victory for UT Tyler. Thibodeaux started and pitched 4 2/3 innings for LeTourneau.
Greene led off the third inning by knocking her third home run of the season. Sara Whitehead and Winter knocked RBIs in the inning to score Robin Waggoner and Tuel, respectively.
The Jackets will play their next five doubleheaders at home, beginning with an ASC East battle against East Texas Baptist on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
