TYLER– The host UT Tyler Patriots outlasted Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2-0 Sunday evening to advance to the championship round of the Tyler Regional of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

Heather Abshire tossed a one-hit gem and Rachel Howell knocked a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to lead the Patriots (39-8) into Monday's championship round, where they will face the Lutes of Pacific Lutheran.

Abshire struck out three batters and walked five while throwing 110 pitches to earn the complete-game victory. She lowered her tournament ERA to 0.58 and upped her weekend record to 3-0.

The Patriots needed every one of Abshire's outs, as CMS freshman pitcher Hayley Schultz matched her frame-for-frame through five innings. Schultz pitched all but one-third of an inning for the Athenas over the weekend, and finished the tournament with a 2-2 record and a 2.10 ERA.

In Sunday's game against UT Tyler, Schultz pitched six innings, scattering five hits and two earned runs.

The Patriots – and Howell in particular – avenged Saturday's second-round loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. In that game, Schultz struck out Howell on a 13-pitch at-bat in the seventh inning with UT Tyler trailing 3-0.

Sunday's game featured a different story. After Abshire drew a one-out walk in the sixth inning, Howell drilled a 3-2 pitch high off the UT Tyler Ballpark scoreboard in left-field, scoring herself and Lauren Robenalt, who was on base as a pinch-runner.

The Athenas (30-15) knocked their lone hit in the top of the fourth inning when Emily Lopez led off with a double. Abshire recovered and induced two groundouts and flyball out to end the inning.

CMS threatened again in the top of the sixth when Harmony Palmer drew a walk to lead off the inning and then moved to second when Michaela Ecklund's grounder resulted in a throwing error. With two on and no out, Lopez lined out to Tyler shortstop Ashlee Johnson, who then relayed a throw to Howell at first base to catch Ecklund for the double-play.

Howell went 2-for-3 in the game for the Patriots. Johnson and Brittney Batten also knocked hits in the game.

The Patriots meet Pacific Lutheran on Monday, with game time scheduled for 1:30 p.m. PLU needs to win just one game to claim the region championship, while the Patriots will need to take two from the Lutes, who are undefeated in the tournament.

Should UT Tyler win the 1:30 p.m. game, the teams will re-convene for the championship game approximately fourty-five minutes after the completion of the first contest.