No. 3 Tyler sweeps series from ENMU

PORTALES – Suffice it to say, Texas-Tyler junior left-hander Tatum Goff has lived up to her billing as the Lone Star Conference softball preseason pitcher of the year.

Goff improved to 24-0 on Sunday, throwing her second shutout of the series as the third-ranked and LSC-leading Patriots completed a three-game series sweep of Eastern New Mexico University with an 8-0 victory at Greyhound Softball Field.

Tyler (37-4, 25-2 LSC) banged out three home runs in making Goff’s job relatively easy. She walked one, struck out five and scattered three doubles and a single to record her eighth shutout and 14th complete game of the campaign.

The Patriots scored four times in the top of the first, then added a solo homer by shortstop Courtney Plocheck in the third, a solo blast by right fielder Maddie Melton in the fifth and a two-run round-tripper by first baseman Avery Farr later in the stanza.

ENMU (20-22, 12-18) stands 12th in the conference, but is still in striking range of ninth-place St. Mary’s (23-18, 13-15), Texas A&M International (16-22, 12-15) and Texas Woman’s (19-19, 11-16). The Hounds have to get busy, though, beginning with a series starting on Thursday at Midwestern State (6-28, 5-22).

They also have remaining series with Texas Woman’s at home and at Oklahoma Christian (24-12, 19-11) before closing the campaign April 28-29 against Texas A&M-Kingsville (17-18, 14-13) at Greyhound Softball Field.

Texas-Tyler 5-10, ENMU 0-2 (Friday) – The Patriots managed only four hits in Game 1, but three of them left the building to account for all the scoring – a second-pitch leadoff shot by center fielder J.T. Smith in the first, a solo blast by Melton in the fourth and a back-breaking, three-run homer by second baseman Sam Schott in the fifth.

Goff allowed two singles and freshman first baseman Ashley Nickerson’s double in a 78-pitch outing. She walked one and struck out four.

In Game 2, Melton’s three-run shot made it 4-0 in the first. The Hounds got to Tyler senior right-hander Shea O’Leary (9-2) for two in the bottom half, with junior catcher Alondra Vasquez and senior second baseman Jokaida Paredes delivering run-scoring singles, but they were blanked after that in a game ending in five on the eight-run rule.

O’Leary finished with a seven-hitter, walking one and striking out six. Vasquez went 2-for-3 for the Hounds.