North Texas Daily

North Texas softball (12-6) spent the end of the week in Wichita, Kansas at the Shocker Invitational. Coming off a Boerner Invitational with mixed results, the Mean Green looked to find more consistency — which they did on the first and only day of the tournament.

“Wins are always good and we played better overall,” Head coach Rodney DeLong said. “defense played good throughout the day. Overall, we’re pleased.”

Game 1: North Texas 10, University of Nebraska-Omaha 0

The Mean Green defeated the University of Nebraska-Omaha (4-12) by a decisive five inning mercy-rule to start proceedings in yesterday’s competition.

Senior Hope Trautwein was in the circle for North Texas, going three innings and allowing no runs.

Trautwein was provided something that had not been given to her at the Boerner Invitational — run support.

The Mean Green offense exploded in the top of the second inning.

Freshman outfielder Maia Wark opened the scoring, coming home from third on a groundout by junior infielder Tayla Evans.

North Texas were able to add seven more in the inning, making the score 8-0.

With the game in mercy-rule range, DeLong took out his senior righty, Trautwein in the bottom of the fourth after an outing that saw her fan five Omaha batters.

The North Texas lineup added two more runs in the third and fourth innings to make the ball game 10-0.

The final two innings saw sophomore right-hander Ariel Thompson and junior righty Bailey Tindell close the game out after five.

Game 2: North Texas 4, Missouri State 3

In a Boerner Invitational rematch — a game that saw North Texas win a close 2-1 contest — North Texas took on Missouri State (8-8) for their second game on Thursday afternoon.

Thompson took the circle for the Mean Green and pitched a scoreless first frame.

The bottom of the first saw the Mean Green offense score four runs, which would be the only runs scored in the game for the squad.

After three straight singles, senior utility player Tarah Hilton was able to reach via an error that scored two runs for North Texas. The third run came by a double steal that payed Evans, and the fourth came after a hit from freshman infielder Rayna Lewis scored freshman catcher Kalei Christensen.

Thompson ran into trouble in the third, surrendering a walk to the Bears’ leadoff hitter, followed by a RBI double to make the game 4-1.

Graduate transfer GiGi Wall came into relieve Thompson in the third, striking out the side to get out of the jam.

Wall would pitch until the sixth inning, where she gave up two runs, but was able to get out of the inning without surrendering the Mean Green lead — earning her the win in the ballgame.

To close out the game in the seventh, DeLong turned to his senior Trautwein, who did not let him down. Trautwein struck out the side to end the game, giving the pitcher her second save of the year on a day in which she also scored her fourth win.

The win will be North Texas’ final game of the tournament as inclement weather canceled the weekend’s games. The Mean Green finished 2-0, and showed signs of livening up offensively.

“There were still some things that we could’ve done better in the second game,” DeLong said. “We were gritty, pitchers did a good job keeping us in the second game, defense played good throughout the day. Overall, we’re pleased.”

Up Next: North Texas returns home to Lovelace Stadium to take on Texas-Arlington (3-11) on March 16 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