North Texas Daily

Eric Siner // Intern Writer

Completing the weekend series against the University of Texas at El Paso, the Mean Green softball team took down the Miners 11-4 Saturday afternoon for a 3-0 series sweep.

Senior infielder Brooke Foster, who went 3-for-5 at batting, ignited the Mean Green (22-10, 8-1) offense with a single to center field in the top of the first inning. The Miners (12-20, 4-5) surrendered five walks in the first, helping UNT get an early 4-0 advantage.

Foster added a double and a home run in the contest, which makes it four home runs she has hit since Wednesday.

“Three, four games I wasn’t hitting well, so I knew I had to make adjustments to get out of my slump, and as of late, it has resulted in me hitting the ball well,” Foster said.

Senior pitcher Lauren Poole (5-2) gave up four runs in her fourth complete game of the season. Through four innings, she only allowed one run to help extend the team’s lead to 7-1.

“Lauren did a great job shutting them down,” head coach Tracey Kee said. “They are an unbelievable hitting team, and we knew that we would have to shut them down to be successful in the series, and we did.”

Sophomore catcher Bryana Wade made the best out of her only hit of three plate appearances, with a solo home run in the top of the third inning to stretch UNT’s lead to 6-1.

“Two illegal pitches were thrown, which set me up pretty well, so I knew the next pitch was going to be thrown close,” Wade said, referring to her home run.

Kee said the team’s offense was going to be tested against UTEP, and was content with the scoring output in the series. The Mean Green outscored the Miners in the series by a combined 18 runs.

“We knew we were going to have to have a strong offensive outing to beat this team,” head coach Tracey Kee said. “Once again, they’re an unbelievable hitting team, but we got the job done.”

With the sweep, the Mean Green now hold second place in the Conference USA standings, trailing only University of Tulsa for first place. The next game will be against the University of Oklahoma Sooners at 6 p.m. on March 26 in Norman, Okla.

Feature photo: Junior pitcher Madison Thompson hurls the ball towards home plate during the second game of a doubleheader on Feb.23 against Texas State University. Photo by Edward Balusek / Staff Photographer