North Texas Daily

Softball finished its weekend at the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic in Lubbock, Texas, with four wins and one loss.

North Texas (11-3) won its first game of the tournament on Friday night versus Texas Tech University (8-12) by a score of 5-4. The Mean Green then split Saturday’s games, losing 3-0 to the Red Raiders and beating Southern University (2-16) 9-0. 

“I thought we were very complacent [at the plate],” head coach Rodney DeLong said Saturday night. “We are better than that and will learn from it.”

After being shut out by the Red Raiders Saturday night, the North Texas offense scored 35 runs across two games on Sunday. The Mean Green were led by sophomore outfielder Lexi Cobb, who recorded 10 hits, eight RBI, three walks and two home runs on the weekend.

Game 1: North Texas 24, Southern 7 (five innings)

In a morning matchup with the Lady Jaguars, North Texas sent freshman left-hander Skylar Savage out to the circle, adjacent to redshirt junior right-hander Raquel Latta. Savage picked up her third win, going three innings, striking out four, walking two and allowing no runs or hits.

North Texas took the lead early on sophomore outfielder Kalei Christensen’s fifth home run of the season. Redshirt sophomore Molly Rainey’s second home run of the season extended the Mean Green’s lead to 3-0.

A triple by senior third baseman Tayla Evans extended the North Texas lead to 6-0 in the second inning. The Mean Green added seven more in the third on a Cobb RBI-single, two Southern errors and a three-run home run by sophomore first baseman Kailey Gamble. 

In the fourth inning, North Texas added four runs on a two-run single off the bat of junior third baseman Saleen Donohoe and a two-run error by the Lady Jaguars. Savage made way for freshman right-hander Karsyn Iltis in the bottom of the fourth, as she made her debut for the Mean Green.

Iltis surrendered seven runs, two walks and a two-run home run. After recording no outs, Iltis was relieved by junior lefty Ashley Peters.

North Texas responded with seven runs in the top of the fifth before Peters closed the game out in the bottom of the inning. The 24 runs scored by the Mean Green were the most of any NCAA team this season against a Division I opponent.

Game 2: North Texas 11, Texas Tech 3 (six innings)

Peters started her third game of the weekend Sunday night versus Texas Tech, facing off against Red Raider junior right-hander Kendall Fritz. Peters gained her team-leading sixth win of the season by going four innings, striking out four and surrendering three runs.

North Texas struck first with Cobb’s leadoff solo shot and a three-run Rainey homerun in the first inning. Fritz was relieved by sophomore right-hander Olivia Rains after recording one out in the first. Texas Tech responded in the bottom half with a two-run double off the bat of junior infielder Ellie Bailey.

The Mean Green continued to score in the second, adding two runs on a Cobb RBI single and Christensen RBI groundout. Peters then set the Red Raiders down in order in the bottom of the second.

North Texas extended its lead to 8-2 in the third on sophomore catcher Ashlyn Walker’s first home run of the season. Texas Tech added its third and final run of the game on a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior third baseman Riley Ehlen in the bottom of the third. 

Both teams went silent on offense until the sixth inning when Cobb hit a solo shot and Gamble hit a two-run home run for her fifth of the season. Savage closed out the 11-3 run-rule victory.

The Mean Green play their home opener on Wednesday, facing off against the University of Texas–Austin (12-9). North Texas is 2-1 against Big 12 opponents after taking two-of-three from Texas Tech this weekend and will face three more Big 12 foes this season.

“I’m really proud of our team and how we responded today after a bad performance against [Texas] Tech on Saturday,” DeLong said. “We came to play and really felt like we had something to prove.”

Image source Mean Green Sports