Game One: North Texas 3, Texas A&M Corpus Christi 0
North Texas (9-2) took their first game of the weekend in a 3-0 fashion over Texas A&M Corpus Christi (3-6), where junior pitcher Hope Trautwein broke a school record striking out 21 hitters in the complete-game shutout.
Trautwein entered Friday’s first matchup for the Mean Green coming off a performance where she allowed two runs through eight innings pitched against No. 4 Texas Wednesday night.
Offensively for the first two innings, outfielder Tarah Hilton recorded a hit in the first and Kourtney Williams in the second, while both were stranded in each inning.
All outs recorded offensively in the first three innings for the Islanders came from a strikeout, where Trautwein had nine through the first three innings. Trautwein did not allow a baserunner on through the second and sixth innings.
Senior outfielder Katie Clark pinch-hit for Hilton in the top half of the Mean Green sixth, where she reached first base on a hit-by-pitch. Lacy Gregory hit a one-out single to left field, where Tayla Evans would move Clark to third base after a fly-out to right field. Gregory swiped second base with two outs with Hanna Rebar up. Clark and Gregory would be left in scoring position after Rebar flew out to center-field to end the inning.
A new school record would be broken by Trautwein in the bottom of the sixth inning where she struck out Islanders hitter Alyssa Miller for her 15th on the day.
“Hope was solid,” head coach Rodney DeLong said. “She really commanded her fastball and took advantage of the zone we were dealing with. She threw hard and had a really good performance.”
Trautwein allowed her first base runner in six innings on a two-out walk to Islanders hitter Daisy Gonzalez in the bottom of the seventh. A popup to Evans at first base would keep the game scoreless through seven full innings.
North Texas scored the first run of the game in their half of the eighth inning on a Clark single, driving in senior catcher Nicole Ochotnicki. Evans would drive in Clark on a two-out single to left field. Rebar as the next batter would walk, where freshman Saleen Donohoe would drive in Evans to give North Texas a 3-0 lead.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi was retired on three strikeouts in the bottom of the eighth to end the game.
“We had a hard time with the wide strike zone we had today,” DeLong said. “But we got gritty at the end and found a way to win the game.”
Trautwein earned her fifth win of the season to improve at (5-1) in the complete-game shutout pitching eight innings, striking out 21 while allowing one hit and two walks. She also moves to third all-time in the program with 400 career strikeouts.
Evans and Donohoe each went 2/4 with an RBI for North Texas offensively. Clark went 1/1 with an RBI in the win.
Game Two: North Texas 8, Texas Southern 1
North Texas picked up their 10th win of the season from an early offensive output where the Mean Green scored four runs in the first inning in an 8-1 victory over Texas Southern (3-8). The win over Texas Southern made North Texas (2-0) on the day.
With junior Tarah Hilton and sophomore Tayla Evans on base with two outs in the bottom of the first, senior outfielder Hanna Rebar reached on an error giving North Texas a 1-0 start. Rebar would steal second base allowing Evans to score going up 2-0. Freshman infielder Saleen Donohie hit her first career home run on a two-run shot scoring Rebar, making it a 4-0 game after the first full inning.
Tindell in her start allowed one baserunner through the first two innings against the Tigers, where she struck out three hitters.
Senior outfielder Kenzie Young stole second base in the bottom of the fourth after being walked and later advancing to third on a ground ball. Young scored in the inning to give the Mean Green a 5-0 advantage.
Tindell allowed an unearned run in the top of the fifth inning on a two-out error with Texas Southern runners on first and third base. She finished the day going five innings allowing one unearned run, five hits and five strikeouts.
Freshman pitcher Ariel Thompson came in relief for the sixth inning where she struck out three and walked one batter.
North Texas added three insurance runs in the bottom half of the sixth with a single by senior infielder Lacy Gregory to drive in Katie Clark and Young. Hilton would score in the inning from a Rebar fielder’s choice to extend the Mean Green lead to 8-1.
Thompson set the Texas Southern hitters down in order in the seventh inning to secure the win.
“Pitchers were great today,” DeLong said. “Bailey got ahead and commanded the strike zone on almost every hitter, it was good to see her throw well. Then Ariel came in and threw well too while really commanding her pitches.”
The offense for North Texas finished with seven hits, including Donohoe going 2/4 and Gregory who each had two RBI’s in the game. Tindell moved to (4-1) on the season, where Thompson pitched two shutout innings striking out five on one walk.
“We’re still working through some things at the plate,” DeLong said. “The kids are working, and we’ll get to where we want to be eventually.”
UP NEXT: North Texas will play Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Texas Southern again Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Featured Image: Junior catcher Tarah Hilton catches the ball for a strike against Abilene Christian University on Feb. 15, 2020. Image by Zachary Thomas
Article Originally Published by on North Texas Daily
Source: North Texas Daily
