University of North Texas Athletics
Softball Travels To WKU For Important Conference Series
4/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
DENTON, Texas (4/17/09) - The North Texas softball team travels to Bowling Green, Ky. this weekend to face conference opponent Western Kentucky University. The Mean Green will play a single game on Friday, April 17 at 6 pm and then a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
The Mean Green (24-20) currently sits in fourth place in the Sun Belt behind the Hilltoppers. NT holds a 10-7 conference mark, while WKU is 8-4. NT is 10-11 in the series against WKU, losing two out of three last year at home. North Texas swept Troy last weekend after picking up solo wins in the series against FIU and Middle Tennessee.
The Hilltoppers swept ULM last week and also took three games from FIU earlier in the season. WKU took two out of three against Louisiana-Lafayette, but dropped all three games to Troy.
Ashley Lail is the reigning conference pitcher of the week after posting two wins against Troy, including a no-hitter. Kayla Lawson picked up the other win against Troy and also secured a victory against Texas Tech. WKU's Ryan Rogge is 17-5 this season with an ERA of 0.96.
Courtney Bradshaw has come on strong late in the season for the Mean Green. In the last six games, Bradshaw leads the team with a .692 batting average. Caitlin Grimes is behind her at .417 with five RBI. Overall, the team recorded a batting average of .314 in the last six games.
The Mean Green is close to a number of school records. With Sarah Jones' home run on Wednesday, NT has hit 38 home runs this season, six shy of the school record. The Mean Green has hit a minimum of 42 home runs a season since 2006. NT is also three wins shy of tying the school record for wins in a season.
The 2009 team has already doubled last year's stolen base team. NT currently has stolen 55 bases, which is 17 shy of the 2004 school record. Mariza Martinez leads the way with 16 thefts, which is one shy of the school record. Megan Rupp is not far behind at 15.
Martinez also leads the team with nine home runs. The nine home runs ties for third on NT's single-season school record list. Only Susan Waters has hit more than nine home runs in a season. Martinez is also tied for fourth on the single-season RBI list with 29. Only Susan Waters and Mallory Cantler have posted more RBI in a single season.
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