North Texas Daily

Alex Lessard | Associate Sports Editor

@alexjlessard

In the championship game of the Getterman Classic in Waco, Texas, Mean Green softball battled its way to an exhilarating victory over No. 21 Baylor University. The win was its fourth in a row and second extra inning walk-off over Baylor in two days, marking the first time North Texas (6-4) has downed the Bears twice in the same season since 2010.

“I’m getting old with these young kids,” head coach Tracey Kee said. “I don’t know how long my heart can handle it, but they’re fun to coach.”

North Texas 7, Baylor 6

In another extra inning thriller, North Texas had a knack for coming up big when it mattered most. The Mean Green headed into the last inning down 6-2, put a run on the board early and tied the game on a two-out, three-run home run to left field by senior utility player Karly Williams.

Then, after loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, junior outfielder Danielle Gregory watched a 3-1 pitch miss the plate, earning a walk-off walk for the dramatic victory. The Winnsboro native finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate and drew two walks, increasing her season batting average to .394.

“This is the moment I’ve been waiting for my whole life,” Gregory said. “I just wanted to be productive in it, fight for my team and come out on top.”

After scoring five runs without any home runs or stolen bases against North Texas on Saturday, Baylor (5-3) began the rematch playing small ball. The Bears leadoff hitter opened the game with a bunt single, stole second base and scored on a North Texas throwing error to take an early 1-0 lead.

Once two fielding errors plated Baylor runs in the second and third innings, junior Stacey Underwood was called upon in relief for junior Jessica Elder, allowing a fourth run and stranding two runners to avoid a large deficit. Elder had allowed two earned runs on four hits in 2.2 innings, but six outs from Underwood and 3.1 innings of one-run dealing from freshman Lauren Craine ultimately finished the game off.

“They do everything they can to put the ball in play,” Craine said. “I just knew that if I trusted my pitches and spin the ball, I could keep them off the bases and use my defense.”

Baylor continued to slowly add on to the lead, plating one run each in both the fifth and sixth innings. Meanwhile, an RBI single off the bat of freshman utility player Harley Perella gave North Texas its second run of the game in the bottom of the fifth.

The hit led Baylor to remove starting pitcher Kelsee Selman from the game, who allowed two earned runs and seven hits in 4.2 innings of work. But once relievers came in, North Texas was able to attack the following Baylor pitchers on offense to pull out the win.

“They’re just never out of a game. They don’t roll over,” Kee said. “When you have a team that’s going to fight until the last out, a lot of positives are going to occur.”

North Texas will look to add to its four game winning streak in a Feb. 27 double header against Sam Houston State University and Creighton University in its first home games of the season. First pitch at Lovelace Stadium will be at 1 p.m.