Welcome back, DII sports fans. There is just one week remaining in the 2023-24 season. Angelo State is in the national semifinals and one win away from the chance to play for a repeat DII baseball national championship. I also caught up with UT Tyler to discuss championship softball.
The UT Tyler Patriot way: ‘We really did it!’
On Sunday, May 25, the UT Tyler Patriots slammed the door on yet another strong season. Unlike the previous two years that ended in the national semifinals, the Patriots swept their way to the title, holding Western Washington to just one run in a two-game sweep of the national championship series.
It has been quite the run for the Patriots. UT Tyler, which won the DIII softball national championship in 2016, slowly began its transition to DII in 2019. Playing its Lone Star Conference foes for the first time in 2020, the Patriots were off and running, making the jump from DIII look relatively easy, sitting at 17-3 when play came to a screeching halt due to the COVID-19 shutdown.
Head coach Mike Reed looks back to the 2018 junior class as part of the reason the transition has gone so smoothly. Even though schools are ineligible for the postseason as transitioning schools, the seniors all still decided to stay.
“That was one of the major…
