University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Opens Conference Tournament This Morning
5/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Miami, Fla. (5/11/06) - The North Texas softball team opens the 2006 Sun Belt Conference Tournament today with a first-round game against Western Kentucky at 10 am. FIorida International is the host school for this year's tournament. With its sixth-place finish in the conference, the Mean Green earned a sixth-seed in the tournament and will face No. 3 seed Western Kentucky.
With its sixth-place finish in the conference, the Mean Green earned a sixth-seed in the tournament and will face No. 3 seed Western Kentucky in the first round. NT has earned the No. 5 seed the last two years and has gone a combined 3-4 in the conference tournament the first two years. The Mean Green is 2-0 in opening tourney games, including a 2-0 victory against Western Kentucky in 2004.
Watch every pitch of the event on SunBelt.TV for the low, low price of just $9.95 for the entire tournament. Visit the Sun Belt's web site for more information.
North Texas concluded its regular season with four straight losses. The Mean Green recorded a 20-36 overall record, winning five more games then last year with the conference tournament still ahead. The Mean Green won 22 games in 2004 but played 79 games. North Texas won only three conference games this season in a 15-game conference schedule. NT has won six conference games the last two years but played a 20-game schedule.
North Texas went 0-10 this season against ranked opponents after falling to No. 21 Oklahoma, 4-0, on Wednesday night. The Mean Green has also played against No. 2 Texas, No. 13 Lousiana-Lafayette and nationally-ranked Oklahoma three times.
North Texas continued to make huge progress offensively this season. In 2006, the Mean Green has set or tied eight individual batting game records and four team batting game records. Individually, Susan Waters has put herself at the top of most of the single-season and career records at North Texas, including home runs. She currently holds the single-season record for home runs (18) and the career record with 32.
North Texas saw its biggest gain offensively this year in home runs. The Mean Green hit 43 long balls this season, including 18 by Susan Waters. The Mean Green hit 23 last year.
For the third week in a row, sophomore Katya Muller led the offense, hitting .429 in four games with six hits. She batted .455 in the three-game series against Western Kentucky, including two doubles and her eighth home run of the season. She is batting .393 in conference games and has increased her overall batting average to a season-high .318. She leads the team with 62 hits, which is four shy of tying Stephanie Cranmer’s single-season record set in 2004. She also is currently holding a nine-game hitting streak, which ties a school record. Teammate Kristina Fowler posted a nine-game hitting streak earlier in the season.
After falling ill last week and seeing very little action, junior Heather Bostic returned to the starting line-up against Western Kentucky and posted two long balls in the series. The first baseman has now hit a career-high four home runs this season.
Susan Waters and Katya Muller are among the leaders in the Sun Belt Conference. Waters is tied for second in doubles (14), third in RBI (52) and fourth in home runs (18). She is sixth in overall batting in the conference (.320). Muller is second in overall hits (62) and seventh in batting average (.318). In conference games, Muller is leading the league in hits (22) and is second in batting average (.393).
Susan Waters is among the nation’s leaders in home runs per game and slugging percentage. Through games of May 7, Waters is 15th in home runs per game (.32) and 27th in slugging percentage (.754).
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