University of North Texas Athletics
Priest Named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week
3/26/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
DENTON - Freshman pitcher Maria Priest was named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Week, as announced by the league office Monday. She becomes the second North Texas pitcher over the last three seasons to earn the honor.
"I'm very grateful for the opportunity," Priest said. "It means a lot that I was picked for this honor as a freshman."
Priest earned two wins over the weekend, leading the Mean Green to a sweep of reigning C-USA champion Louisiana Tech. She had a 1.54 ERA in 13.2 innings with four strikeouts.
"It was a huge confidence boost," Priest said. "My defense really stepped up and made some great plays that helped me out of some jams and that only added to the confidence I was feeling. It felt good to get back to what I know I'm capable of."
The Stonewall, Okla., native closed out a game one victory with a perfect seventh inning and started game two of Saturday's double-header, going six-plus innings and holding the Lady Techsters to two earned runs on seven hits. Going into the seventh, Priest hadn't allowed a walk.
"I'm incredibly proud of Maria and the grit she showed throughout the series," North Texas head coach Tracey Kee said. "She did a great job of trusting her stuff and her confidence rose each inning. As a coach, you love to see your student-athletes succeed after they have trained so hard physically and mentally."
In the first inning of game three, LA Tech plated five runs on a pair of home runs off Hope Trautwein and Ally Lindsey before Priest entered with one out. Priest pitched the final 6 2/3, allowing just one earned run on six hits with three strikeouts to improve to 8-9 on the year.
With the sweep, North Texas snapped an 11-game losing streak against the Lady Techsters and dethroned them atop the West Division. The Mean Green are 6-3 in C-USA play, while LA Tech fell to 4-5.
North Texas hosts Texas Southern for a mid-week double-header at 3 and 5 p.m. Wednesday before heading to the Sunshine State for a weekend series against Florida Atlantic.
