Recap: Softball handily beats Abilene Christian, prepares for conference play
On Tuesday night, North Texas softball defeated Abilene Christian University by a score of 11-2. Graduate outfielder Tuesday DerMargosian shined in the contest for the Mean Green, going 5-for-5 with a home run and five RBI’s on the day of her namesake.
“[North Texas] had some great individual performances from a lot of kids, Tuesday [Dermargosian] was locked in tonight,” Head coach Rodney DeLong said. “Making really good swings and really she’s been hitting.”
Sophomore RHP Ariel Thompson started in the circle for North Texas (14-7), going two innings and allowing two runs on three hits while striking out three. Thompson received a no-decision for her efforts in the circle. Freshman RHP Riley White took the mound for Abilene Christian (7-21, Southland 3-6), pitching three innings, allowing five runs to score on six hits, walking two and striking out one in a losing effort.
The Mean Green offense immediately jumped on White, as redshirt freshman outfielder Molly Rainey and DerMargosian hit a pair of doubles to start the game and give North Texas a quick 1-0 lead. North Texas would add another couple runs in the first on a triple by junior infielder Tayla Evans and a groundout that scored Evans by freshman infielder Rayna Lewis.
Abilene Christian responded in the bottom of the first frame with a couple of singles, and an RBI groundout by senior infielder Calie Burris.
The contest would remain 3-1 until the bottom of the second inning. With two outs, Wildcats freshman infielder Avery Miloch pulled a Thompson pitch to left field which left the field, cutting down the deficit to one run.
Graduate RHP Gigi Wall relieved Thompson in the top of the third inning, setting the Wildcats down in order.
The bottom of the third saw the North Texas offense exploded, as Dermargosian added two runs to their tally with a pulled two-run home run to left for her second hit of the game. Evans and catcher Ashlyn Walker would hit a pair of doubles later in the inning to make the game a 6-2 contest.
Wall went four innings for the Mean Green while allowing only one Wildcat batter to reach base via a walk.
The sixth inning would be the deciding inning of the game after another big offensive inning for North Texas which saw the team add three runs to their lead.
Once again, DerMargosian came through for the Mean Green, hitting a single that would score freshman infielder Mikayla Smith from second. Evans added onto her big offensive day with a two-RBI single later in the sixth.
With a seven-run cushion, Wall took the mound for her last inning of work, setting the side down in order. Wall earned her seventh win of the season with her performance. The graduate pitcher’s line read four innings pitched, four strikeouts, no hits, and one walk.
The Mean Green added two more in the final frame of the preceding, with an RBI double by freshman infielder Kailey Gamble and DerMargosian’s career-high fifth RBI of the game.
Freshman lefty Janie Worthington relieved Wall in the top of the seventh, putting down Abilene Christian in order to end the game.
” [The team is] just moving into the UAB weekend — it’s good to build some confidence and get going,” DeLong said.
Up Next: North Texas returns to Lovelace on Friday and Saturday to start their C-USA campaign versus the University of Alabama-Birmingham (13-13) in a four-game series.
Featured Image: Senior pitcher Hope Trautwein prepares to throw the ball during a game on Feb. 26, 2021. Image by Preston Rios
There are no comments at the moment, do you want to add one?
Write a comment