Day one for North Texas (14-3) softball in the Courtyard Marriott Tournament hosted by No. 5 Oklahoma (13-3) resulted in 1-1 split Friday afternoon coming from an 8-1 loss to Northwestern (6-10) and a 5-2 win over Abilene Christian (7-11) in game two.
“We just didn’t come out with the same confidence we usually have,” head coach Rodney DeLong said. “We still found a way to win the second game though and I hope tomorrow we have a better effort physically and mentally.”
Game 2 – North Texas 5, Abilene Christian 2
The Mean Green in game two rallied in the third inning to give junior pitcher Hope Trautwein enough run support to pick up her eighth win of the season. A 5-2 win over Abilene Christian puts North Texas (2-0) on the year against the Wildcats, where the Mean Green won 6-0 earlier this season.
After two full scoreless innings, the North Texas bats would plate five runs in their top half of the third inning. Senior outfielder Katie Clark drove in Candain Callahan to put North Texas up 1-0. Tarah Hilton next up brought Clark home on a triple to center field.
Senior outfielder Hanna Rebar continued the rally plating home Tayla Evans and Hilton through a left field double. Rebar scored on an error to give North Texas a 5-0 advantage.
Through the first full four innings, Trautwein pitched four perfect frames with nine strikeouts. The Wildcats would score two in the bottom of the fifth inning coming off a two-run home run by Kayla Keeling.
Trautwein would bear down and keep Abilene Christian scoreless after the home run. In her complete-game performance, she had 14 strikeouts allowing two runs on two hits. Trautwein moved to 8-1 on the year after the win.
Rebar led North Texas offensively. Game two went 2/3 with two RBI’s, including Clark and Hilton who each had a hit and an RBI.
Game 1 – Northwestern 8, North Texas 1
North Texas came into game one riding a five-game winning streak after a recent 10-1 mercy-rule victory over Texas-Arlington. An early offensive output for Northwestern put North Texas out of reach to suffer the Mean Green’s third loss of the season.
Sophomore pitcher Bailey Tindell took the ball game one for North Texas, where the Wildcats scored two runs in the first cashing in on an error and RBI groundout to freshman Saleen Donohoe at third base.
Northwestern added two additional runs in the second inning on a two-out RBI single by Skyler Shellmyer, giving the Wildcats a 4-0 advantage.
Donohoe put North Texas on the board on a solo home run to center field making it a 4-1 game. The home run would be Donohoe’s second of the season.
The Wildcats added a run in the third inning on a solo home run by Nikki Cochran to push their lead to four.
North Texas’ offense was held scoreless the rest of the game where Wildcat’s pitcher Danielle Williams struck out 12 North Texas hitters and allowed one run on four hits.
Tindell went 5.1 innings in game one striking out four allowing six earned runs, eight hits and one walk. Freshman Ariel Thompson took over in the sixth inning with one out to close out the rest of the game.
Thompson finished the game going 1.2 innings allowing one unearned run, one hit and one strikeout.
On the loss, Tindell fell to 4-2 where she allowed more than one earned run for the first time all season. Donohoe led North Texas offensively game one with a 1/3 performance with a home run.
“It’ll be tough and we’ve got to play hard,” DeLong added. “We need to play tough and play our best and hopefully we bring some good energy and play well.”
The Mean Green will have two games Saturday, first against No. 5 Oklahoma at 12:30 p.m. and game two to be determined.
Featured Image: Senior outfielder Katie Clark dives to home plate and scores against UT Arlington on Feb. 25, 2020. Image by Zachary Thomas
Article Originally Published by on North Texas Daily
Source: North Texas Daily