University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Softball Wins Final Game Of Regular Season
5/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
San Marcos, Texas (4/30/09) Ashley Lail pitched her fifth shutout of the season, and Mariza Martinez hit a two-run homer to lead the North Texas softball team to a 2-0 victory against Texas State on Thursday night at Bobcat Field.
The Mean Green ends its regular season with a 26-26 record, while the Bobcats fall to 34-16 overall. NT takes a 3-2 lead in the series.
“It was a good win for us,” said North Texas head coach TJ Hubbard. “It was nice to end the regular season on a positive note. Texas State is a quality program. They have beat some good teams this year. I think the key for us was that we played solid defense. We need to continue playing good defense in the conference tournament.”
The game featured a pitcher’s duel between Lail and Texas State’s Katie Garnett. Through five innings, Lail had given up just two hits, while Garnett held the Mean Green to just one hit.
Mariza Martinez broke up the 0-0 tie with a two-run homer in the sixth. Rebecca Waters led off the inning with a single and was advanced to second on a sacrifice. After Anna Barren pinch ran for Waters, Martinez cleared the bases with her 11th home run of the season. The 11 home runs leads the team and is third on the North Texas single-reason record list.
Lail improved to 11-11 this season. The 11 wins ties a career best. She won 11 games in her first year with North Texas as a sophomore in 2007.Lail pitched seven innings and allowed just four hits. Garnett took the loss, giving up two runs on five hits.
The Mean Green snaps a four-game losing streak and heads into the conference tournament next week on a winning note. NT needs just one more win to tie the school record for wins in a season.
The Mean Green is hosting the 2009 Sun Belt Conference Championship, beginning on Wednesday, May 6. The championship game will be held on Saturday, May 9 at 3 pm.
Click here for more tournament information
