North Texas Daily

Ehsan Azad // Staff Writer

In a race for a high seed in the upcoming conference tournament, the Mean Green softball team lost ground in a 10-2 loss to Florida International University on Sunday.

The Mean Green (28-19,12-8) scored early in first inning when junior first baseman Dani Hoff hit a double that allowed senior shortstop Brooke Foster to score. In the second inning, senior left fielder Jackie Miller scored on a wild pitch by FIU.

From there, however, FIU (30-19, 12-9) shut down the UNT offense and only allowed five total hits. The team lost both games of the doubleheader against FIU the day before in similar fashion, losing by a combined score of 14-1.

After pitching for the first two innings, senior Ashley Kirk was replaced by senior Lauren Poole. Kirk had allowed one run, but Poole also couldn’t hold the Panther offense and allowed seven runs and six hits in 1.2 innings. She was eventually replaced by freshman Kenzie Grimes, who let up two runs and four hits before the team fell to the mercy rule.

With this sweep, the Mean Green is now on a four-game losing streak with four games remaining in the regular season schedule. In the Conference USA tournament standings, the Mean Green sit at the No. 3 spot, just one game behind of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. FIU is now a game back of the Mean Green in the loss column.

The conference tournament begins May 8 in Boca Raton, Fla. The Mean Green will now prepare to play Baylor University at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Waco.

 Feature photo: Sophomore second baseman Spencer Ferrell rares back to attempt a double play after a University of Alabama Birmingham player is thrown out at second base. Ferrell had three at bats and one hit during the first game against UAB on Feb. 30 at Lovelace Stadium. Photo by Edward Balusek / Staff Photographer