Recap: Softball drops final game of Boerner Invitational, prepares for No. 10 Oklahoma State
Sunday’s finale to the Boerner Invitational saw North Texas softball lose their second game in a row. Looking to bounce back after Saturday afternoon’s 13-2 blowout loss to Wichita State University, the Mean Green (10-6) lost 2-0 to the University of Texas-Arlington (3-10).
“It is what it is, good teams learn failure and get better and we’ll see how this team handles it,” Head coach Rodney DeLong said. We haven’t handled adversity very well yet so we’ll see what we do with it.”
Senior righty Hope Trautwein started the game for the Mean Green, going 4.2 innings and allowing two runs in the contest.
Scoreless until the fourth inning, Trautwein and Lady Mavericks pitcher Kenedy Hines were engaged in a battle of wills throughout the preceding.
Trautwein ran into trouble in the fifth after walking Mavericks infielder Jadyn Erickson and surrendering a double to third baseman KJ Murphy.
With one out in the inning, first baseman Aileen Garcia laid down a bunt in front of Trautwein that put the pitcher in a difficult position. As Erickson charged home from third, Trautwein tried to flip the ball to the plate, but overthrew freshman catcher Ashlyn Walker, resulting in the ball rolling to the backstop. Murphy scored from second on the error.
In the fifth inning, Trautwein found herself in more trouble as a two-out single and a couple walks loaded the bases for Texas-Arlington. Trautwein was removed from the game, making way for graduate righty Gigi Wall.
In the final two innings, the bats went silent for the Mean Green.
A couple of base hits by freshman Rayna Lewis and senior Tarah Hilton were the only highlights for North Texas in the sixth and seventh innings.
North Texas took the loss after being unable to muster up the runs to tie the game, giving Trautwein her third loss of the season, and Hines her first win in a 2-0 contest.
“We just have to clear our minds and get past the weekend,” DeLong said.
Up Next: The Mean Green gears up for yet another challenge as their next game has them travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma to face off against No. 1o Oklahoma State University on March 10 at 6 p.m.
Featured Image: Senior pitcher Hope Trautwein prepares to throw the ball during a game on Feb. 26, 2021. Image by Preston Rios
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