Softball Shuts Out ETBU; Remains Atop ASC East
April 21, 2008

The 3rd-ranked University of Texas at Tyler softball team pitched a pair of shutouts against East Texas Baptist in an American Southwest Conference doubleheader on Tuesday night at the UT Tyler Ballpark, winning the games 1-0 and 3-0.

With the wins, the Patriots maintain a half-game lead over No. 2 Louisiana College in the ASC East standings, with four games left to play in the regular season.

In game one, the Patriots scored just one run in the game but it would be all they needed to win. Freshman Brittanni Hanna (Mesquite, Texas) doubled to left center field and allowed pinch runner Sarah Roeten (Shreveport, La.) to score the game-winning run.

Freshman Kelsey Harrington (Texarkana, Texas) notched her 7th shutout and 14th win of the year by allowing no runs and just three hits over seven innings. Harrington remains undefeated on the year.

In the second game, the Patriots picked up their fourth straight shutout. UT Tyler has not allowed a run in 28 straight innings.

The game remained scoreless through four and half innings of play. In the top of the fifth, sophomore Julie Smith (Huffman, Texas) put herself in scoring position by hitting a triple to lead off the inning. Smith would score on the next at bat from a passed ball by the ETBU catcher, to put the UT Tyler up 1-0.

In the next at bat, sophomore Kara Turner (Troup, Texas) hit a solo homerun to give the Patriots a 2-0 lead.

UT Tyler would round out the scoring when junior Megan Richardson (Platteville, Colo.) scored sophomore Amanda Busby (Elysian Fields, Texas) on a sacrifice bunt.

In the circle for the Patriots, freshman Stacy Shepherd (Houston, Texas) allowed no runs off of six hits en route to her fifth win of the year. By throwing the shutout, Shepherd lowered her season ERA from 0.91 to 0.80.

UT Tyler now stands at 34-2 overall and 18-2 in the ASC, while East Texas Baptist falls to 21-13 and 10-10 in the conference.

The Patriots will return to the UT Tyler Ballpark on Thursday for their penultimate series of the regular season to take on Ozarks at 4 p.m.

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