North Texas Daily

After dropping the first two games of the Mardi Gras Classic in Monroe, Louisiana, North Texas redeemed itself with a solid overall team effort to top the University of Tennessee-Martin, 5-2 Friday afternoon.

Freshman pitchers Hope Trautwein and Maria Priest both turned in well pitched outings on the mound to keep the Skyhawks (1-2) offense in check.

“Our mindset today was just to play better than yesterday,” Kee said. “It got a little nerve wracking at the end, but I felt both [pitchers] and the defense did [play better].”

Trautwein tossed 4.2 innings with five strikeouts while only allowing three hits and two runs before being relieved by Priest.

“I felt a lot more relax after getting those first game jitters out of the way,” Trautwein said. “I had a really good warmup and just felt pretty solid about my mechanics.”

Junior outfielder Sam Rea got things started early for the Mean Green (1-2), her second inning two-run home run gave North Texas an early lead. Sophomore Hannah Rebar also got in on the action with a solo shot just two innings later, giving her two home runs in as many days.

Kee also sent out freshman infielder Kourtney Williams for her first career start. Williams rewarded her coach’s trust, reaching base twice and was eventually knocked in both times by sophomore infielder Lacy Gregory. However, sophomore utility Lindsay Gregory also deserves credit for those two runs. Lindsay sacrifice bunted Williams to second to set up both runs.

“Lindsay and Lacy are both selfless players who will do anything,” Williams said. ‘The coaches really harp on doing anything for this team to win and they both do a great job of that.”

After collecting a total of 10 RBI’s in two games on Thursday night, Lacy continued to roll on Friday. The second year utility player has showed no signs of a sophomore slump thus far, going 2-for-3 with a double and and those two RBI’s against UTM.

“I was really surprised they pitched to [Lacy],” Kee said. “Twice they had a chance to pitch to her and twice she made them pay. For her, she’s just a pure hitter and true competitor.”

Lacy finished 6-for-11 with two home runs, four doubles and 12 RBI’s over a span of three games at the tournament.

“I just really focused on waiting for pitches and not swinging anything that wasn’t in my zone and not chasing anything,” Lacy said. “It’s also important for us to come out and just be confident.”

Up next: North Texas will have plenty of time to rest before competing in the Elon Softball Classic in Elon, North Carolina. They start the tournament by taking on Bowling Green at 11:15 a.m. on Thursday.

Featured image: After hitting the ball out of Lovelace Stadium, Freshman Lacy Gregory (right) runs around the bases for UNT’s second run of the first inning. North Texas won Sunday March 12, 2017 versus UTEP, 9-1.