UT Tyler's head coach Mike Reed talks to his team before the Patriots home opener against Pacific Lutheran at Suddenlink field. (Lang White / Correspondent)

After just one pre-conference game, the No. 1-ranked UT Tyler Patriots will open American Southwest Conference play with a weekend series against Hardin-Simmons at UT Tyler Ballpark’s Suddenlink Field.

There is a single game on Friday scheduled for 4 p.m. with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.

UT Tyler (1-0) has won 24 straight regular season home games, including a 4-0 win over Pacific Lutheran on Feb. 3.

Three-time All-America pitcher Kelsie Batten threw a one-hit shutout against the Tacoma, Washington, university.

“Part of the challenge of having such a big conference is playing your second game of the season as a conference game,” UT Tyler head coach Mike Reed said. “You’re still trying to learn about your team and get our lineup set right and learn some things about us. We know they will be good and are returning a lot, but I told the girls that this is an exciting opportunity and another challenge on our schedule.”

Along with Batten’s dazzling performance, the Patriots had a pair of two-hit performances from Raven Rodriguez and Kaylee Prather. Rodriguez, a senior shortstop from Houston, opened the year with a double and triple and drove in one run while Vanessa Carrizales and Bianca Van Vlerah each had two-out RBI doubles in the sixth inning to give the Patriots some insurance going into the final inning. Rodriguez doubled down the right-field line for her first hit to lead off the third inning and then tripled with another opposite-field shot down the right-field line to score Prather who had a two-out single and stole second in the fourth inning.

Batten, who went seven innings and only surrendered one harmless first-inning single against the lutes, enters the weekend with 367 strikeouts after having six in the opener. A senior from Huntington, Batten is the program leader with 83 wins, 56 complete games, 28 shutouts, 115 appearances and is tied for the all-time record with six saves from the pitcher’s circle.

Batten was named the ASC Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday and is a three-time NFCA All-American for the Patriots. Batten has been the ASC Player of the Week 12 times in her career.

“I am so glad that my team was able to come out and get a win to open up the season,” Batten said. “We are practicing hard every day and it was nice to see our hard work pay off. You can really see our team coming together more and more each day and I am so glad that I get to spend my senior year with this amazing group of girls.”

Added Reed, “Kelsie has been a security blanket for us since she got here. She’s been a huge part of everything that we have accomplished. She is someone we know we can count on and know that we are going to get a standard of performance every time.”

UT Tyler will play on the road for the first time this season next week with a three-game set against Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi, before returning home to host LeTourneau Feb. 26-27 at Suddenlink Field.

 

SportsCenter Top 10

UT Tyler centerfielder Sam Lane make the ESPN Top 10 with his diving catch against the University of Dallas.

Lane made the catch on Sunday at Irwin Field in the Patriots 21-7 win over the Crusaders.

His catch was No. 8 on the top 10 list.

 

Clements Fluids Classic

The No. 20-ranked UT Tyler baseball team will host the Clements Fluids Classic this weekend at Irwin Field with six games scheduled to be played from Friday to Sunday. The tournament includes Birmingham Southern, Centenary, Texas Lutheran and No. 7-ranked Trinity University.

The schedule includes: Friday, Birmingham Southern vs. Trinity, 3 p.m. UT Tyler vs. Centenary, 6 p.m.; Saturday, Texas Lutheran vs. Birmingham Southern, 1 p.m.; UT Tyler vs. Texas Lutheran, 4 p.m.; and Sunday, Birmingham Southern vs. Centenary, noon; and UT Tyler vs. Trinity, 3 p.m.

 

Netters Honored

Seniors Daniel Budd and Mary Alice Blacketer have garnered American Southwest Conference East Division Players of the Week after impressive starts to the 2016 season.

Blacketer helped lead the UT Tyler women’s team to a 3-0 start where she has gone undefeated in her singles and doubles matches. Blacketer began her UT Tyler career with two wins at No. 1 singles with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Michaela Ellison of Hardin-Simmons before taking a 6-1, 6-4 match against McMurry’s Chloe Patterson.

A senior from Lubbock, Blacketer transferred to UT Tyler from Texas Tech. She also picked up a pair of doubles victories with teammate Tori Musngi on Sunday. Blacketer and Musngi started their season together with an 8-2 win over Hannah Smith/Jenna Smith (HSU) and then cruised to an 8-1 win over Bree Brosig/Samantha Ruiz in the second match. She then went on to face LSU-Alexandria where she won her First Flight singles match with a 6-2, 0-6, 10-5 win and her doubles match with partner Musngi, 8-6.

The Patriot women’s team (3-0) scored wins over Hardin-Simmons (7-2), McMurry (8-1) and LSU-Alexandria (7-2).

Daniel Budd, a senior from Vancouver, British Columbia, also secured four wins during the first match of the season with a 6-1, 6-0 first singles victory over HSU’s Griffin Weinkam and then a 6-3, 6-0 second singles win to close out the day against the War Hawks, while he and Joey McIntyre also rolled to second doubles victories. McIntyre and Budd opened the season with an 8-2 win over HSU and then cruised to an 8-1 victory over McMurry. A week later Budd and the Patriots made the trip to College Station to face off against St. Edward’s University where Budd picked up two wins in singles and doubles action. Budd is now 44-21 in singles play during his career as a Patriot.

“I am excited to receive this honor so early in the season, we’ve all been working hard and to get the recognition is always a nice thing,” Budd said. “We’re just looking forward to getting some more wins under our belt and playing better tennis.”

The Patriots (2-1) scored wins over Hardin-Simmons (9-0) and McMurry (9-0) on Jan. 31 in Tyler before falling to St. Ed’s 5-4 in College Station.

Budd, Blacketer and the rest of the Patriot team will be back in action on Friday, hosting Texas A&M-Texarkana at 2:30 p.m. at the Summers Tennis Center.

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