LAS VEGAS – Saint Martin's split their pair of games on the second day of the Desert Stinger, falling to UT Tyler 12-4, before rebounding with a 6-0 shutout victory over Academy of Art.
 
"In the opening game, our team competed, and played hard against a quality opponent in Texas Tyler," said head coach Jim Peterson. "In the second game, we had solid pitching from Brandi (Schoessler), and Shaye (Pinner) today in the circle. Offensively, we took advantage of several timely hits in the game as well."
 
In the opener, UT Tyler (3-0) took a 2-0 lead in the opening frame on a home run to center field. The Patriots extended their lead in the third on a RBI single to first base.
 
Saint Martin's (3-1) responded in force in top of the fourth inning, throwing a four up on the scoreboard. Emery Norwood got the action started with a single through the left side, followed by Olivia Schmidt's RBI double to left center. Regan Byrd put the Saints on top with a two RBI single up the middle.
 
UT Tyler managed to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning, and the scored remained so until the bottom of the sixth. The Patriots sealed the victory with an eight run inning, and handed the Saints their lone loss of the tournament so far.
 
Abby Runyon (1-1) got the start for SMU, going five plus innings before Kylee Freese collected the next two outs but was unable to end the inning.
 
The Saints quickly bounced back in their second game of the night, scoring in the opening inning against Art U (0-4). Julia Lucas picked up where she left off yesterday, driving in a run on a single.
 
Kylie Lopez connected for her second home run of the tournament in the fourth inning to help broke open the lead. The senior connected on the eighth pitch of the at-bat for a bomb to left center to put SMU up 3-0.
 
Saint Martin's added to their lead in the sixth on a Kylee Vanderbout inside the park home run down the right field line. Then in seventh, the Saints added another run on an error by Art U, followed by a Vanderbout double to left field.
 
Brandi Schoessler (2-0) picked up the win, going four scoreless innings, allowing only two hits, no walks, and punching out one. Shaye Pinner was credited with the three inning save after completing the shutout on four hits, one walk, and one strikeout.
 
The Saints close out the tournament on Sunday with a matchup against Minot State at 2:00 p.m. Live stats of the game will be available on smusaints.com.