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Friday, February, 7

Mean Green leave Corpus Christi undefeated in the Islander tournament

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Saturday’s double-header for North Texas (12-2) resulted in consecutive wins where pitching held the upper hand holding opponents to one run in each matchup. Offensive production for North Texas included 13 runs on 17 hits in both games.

“I thought we played with some energy today,” head coach Rodney DeLong said. “We were pretty good at the plate. Our pitchers threw well again today. We played good defense and we were just good all the way around today.”

Game Two: North Texas 7, Texas A&M Corpus Christi 1

A six-run fifth inning put North Texas in position to earn junior pitcher Hope Trautwein her sixth win of the season in a relief appearance, where she came off a 21-strikeout performance the day before against Texas A&M Corpus Christi (3-9).

North Texas found themselves down early in the top of the first inning with Islander’s Haley Morse driving in the game’s first run on an RBI single off sophomore pitcher Bailey Tindell.

In response, the Mean Green opened their bottom half of the first with consecutive singles by junior Tarah Hilton and senior infielder Lacy Gregory. The bases were loaded with two outs after senior outfielder Hanna Rebar walked, where Texas A&M Corpus Christi escaped the jam, keeping North Texas scoreless in the first.

The Islanders were held to two baserunners throughout their following three innings where Tindell struck out two Texas A&M Corpus Christi batters.

Things were knotted up at one apiece in the Mean Green half of the fourth inning where senior outfielder Camille Grahmann scored on one-out bases-loaded passed ball.

Tindell allowed a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth inning, where the damage was minimized on a ground ball double play to freshman shortstop Candain Callahan. A hit batter and walk to consecutive batters set Trautwein to relieve with two outs in the inning where she kept the Islanders scoreless from a popup to freshman third baseman Saleen Donohoe.

On the day, Tindell finished with 4.2 innings pitched, one run, two hits, three walks and three strikeouts.

North Texas took the lead in their half of the fifth on an RBI single by Rebar, and Evans scored on an error making it a 3-1 game. Callahan drove in Clark and Rebar on a two-RBI single to center field pushing the lead to four. RBI’s by Callahan and Donohoe plated two additional Mean Green runs across, giving North Texas a 7-1 lead.

Trautwein closed the following two innings against Texas A&M Corpus Christi striking out four hitters and allowing two hits.

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The 7-1 win put Trautwein at 6-1 on the year in a performance with 2.1 innings pitched, allowing two hits, one walk and four strikeouts.

Callahan ended Saturday’s game two on a 1/2 performance with 2 RBI’s. Donohoe, Grahmann and Rebar also had RBI’s in the game.

North Texas completed the weekend 4-0 where the Mean Green pitching staff allowed one run or less in each of the four games.

[Allred] does a great job with our pitchers,” DeLong said. “They do a great job. They support each other and they work hard. It’s good to see we have multiple arms that can beat anybody.”

Game One: North Texas 6, Texas Southern 1

Freshman pitcher Ariel Thompson got the ball in game one against Texas Southern (3-9) after coming off a performance Friday afternoon where she pitched two shutouts innings striking out five Tiger batters.

Senior outfielder Hanna Rebar led off the Mean Green in the top of the second inning with a triple to right field. Rebar scored from third base on a passed-ball walk with senior catcher Nicole Ochotnicki at the plate with two outs to give North Texas a 1-0 lead.

Thompson allowed no baserunners through her first two innings, where she struck out four Tiger hitters. Two hits were allowed in the bottom half of the third inning by Thompson, where she stranded two runners on a two-out strikeout to Texas Southern’s Emma Ortiz.

North Texas added two runs in their top of the fourth on freshman infielder Candain Callahan’s first career triple scoring Rebar. Ochotnicki as the next batter drove in Callahan through a sacrifice bunt to expand a 3-0 advantage against the Tigers.

The Mean Green would plate a run in their fifth inning after senior infielder Lacy Gregory hit a double, later advancing on a ground ball and scoring on Tayla Evans’ single to the left side of the infield to push their lead at four.

Senior outfielder Katie Clark came into score the Mean Green’s fifth run on an error by Texas Southern after her triple in the top of the sixth inning.

Throughout innings four through six, Thompson allowed one baserunner keeping Texas Southern scoreless through six completed innings. Thompson through six innings struck out 11 Tiger hitters.

North Texas added one insurance run in their half of the seventh inning on an Evans’ RBI double scoring junior outfielder Kourtney Williams, making it a 6-0 ballgame heading into Texas Southern’s final offensive opportunity.

The Tigers avoided a shutout off Thompson in their bottom half of the seventh inning where Aubri Ford drove in Tevana Tate on a one-out double. Thompson would strand the Texas Southern’s base-runner after consecutive popups to finish the inning.

Evans finished game one leading the Mean Green offensively going 2/4 with two RBI’s, including Callahan at 1/3 with an RBI and a triple.

Thompson improved to (2-0) on the season after a complete game performance where she went seven innings, allowing one unearned run, four hits, and 11 strikeouts.

UP NEXT: North Texas plays on their home diamond Tuesday, Feb. 25 against Texas Arlington (7-5).

Featured Image: Senior batter Hanna Rebar prepares to hit the ball during the UNT vs. Missouri State softball game on Feb. 15, 2020. Image by Ryan Cantrell

Article Originally Published by on North Texas Daily

Source: North Texas Daily

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