North Texas Daily

In a Wednesday night contest, North Texas softball defeated the University of Texas-Arlington in a low-scoring affair. Righty graduate Gigi Wall took the circle for the Mean Green earning her ninth win of the season.

“Gigi [Wall] was awesome tonight,” Head coach Rodney DeLong said. “[Wall] had really good velocity, really good command with the drop and fastball.”

Wall pitched five innings, striking out eight, walking one and getting the win for North Texas (20-9, C-USA 2-2). Laura Henriksen took the circle for Texas Arlington (13-23, SBC 6-6), going two innings for the Mavericks allowing a run on three walks and one hit. Henriksen suffered the loss in the contest.

The game’s only run would come in the second inning after Henriksen loaded the bases. Freshman catcher Ashlyn Walker took one for the team, gaining an RBI after being hit by a Henriksen pitch that scored freshman infielder Mikayla Smith from third.

After Wall held the Mavericks scoreless for the second inning in a row, Texas-Arlington head coach Peejay Brun made a call to her bullpen, bringing in sophomore right-hander Kenedy Hines — who had been the designated player for the squad.

Hines would remain in the game for the remainder of the contest, surrendering only one hit to senior Tarah Hilton who doubled in the third inning.

Wall retired the side in order three times in a row to end her night.

Senior right Hope Trautwein relieved Wall in the sixth inning. The outing was Trautwein’s first since her historic perfect game last Sunday.

Trautwein surrendered her first base hit since April 3 on a two-out double by senior third baseman KJ Murphy. Murphy was left stranded on second after Trautwein struck out the side.

Trautwein went on to retire the side in order in the bottom of the seventh, notching her fifth save of the season. The pitcher’s battle ended in a 1-0 win for North Texas — their 20th on the season.

It was good to see [Wall] throw that well against a team that’s been playing well,” DeLong said. “I’m proud of her and proud of the outing she had. It’s what we need moving forward.”

Up Next: North Texas makes the long journey to El Paso to take on the conference rival, University of Texas-El Paso (8-16, C-USA 3-5) on April 14 for a weekend four-game series.

Courtesy Mean Green Sports