UT Tyler advanced to Saturday’s LSC softball championship with an 8-5 win over Lubbock Christian on Friday in Canyon. (Christian Guerrero/Courtesy)

Staff Reports

UT Tyler will play for back-to-back Lone Star Conference Softball Championship Tournament titles after outlasting No. 6 seed Lubbock Christian 8-5 on Friday in the semifinals at Schaeffer Park in Canyon.

A seven-run second inning proved to be the difference in UT Tyler’s 21st straight victory after Lubbock Christian put across five runs over the course of the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Graduate student Courtney Plocheck went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs to help power a Patriot offense that notched nine hits.

UT Tyler will await the winner of the second semifinal game between No. 5 seeded St. Mary’s and No. 1 seeded West Texas A&M in Saturday’s championship game at 2 p.m.

Plocheck provided the big hit in the second inning for UT Tyler, clearing the bases with a double down the left field line. Senior Audrey Escamilla put the first run of the game on the board with an RBI double that scored freshman Makayla Garcia from first.

Senior Cassidi Mullen made it 2-0 with an RBI single up the middle before a pair of walks loaded the bases for Plocheck’s double. Junior JT Smith kept the rally going with a triple to score Plocheck and then scored the seventh run of the inning on an infield single by Garcia.

Lubbock Christian put up three runs in the top of the third and another run in the fourth to cut the once sizeable advantage to just 7-4. Plocheck delivered another double in the bottom of the fourth that scored junior Nicole Price to run the score to 8-4.

The Lady Chaps put the final run of the game on the board in the top of the fifth before both offenses finally cooled off for the sixth and seventh innings.

Senior Kaylee Davis collected the win after taking over in the third for starter Genesis Armendariz. Davis allowed just a single run over 3.0 innings of effort, striking out three along the way.

Junior Christin Haygood was outstanding in relief as well, collecting her third save of the year after retiring all six batters that she faced.

Plocheck and Mullen each finished with two hits on the afternoon. UT Tyler notched four extra-base hits as a unit.