
MGSB Sweeps Opening Games in Wichita
3/11/2021 6:00:00 PM | Softball
WICHITA, Kan. – North Texas opened play in the Sunflower State with a Thursday sweep in day one of the Wichita State Softball Tournament, beating Omaha 10-0 (5) and Missouri State 4-3. The Mean Green will take on Omaha again on Friday morning before squaring off with the host, Wichita State.
"Wins are always good and we played better overall," head coach Rodney DeLong said. "There were still some things that we could've done better in the second game, but we were gritty, pitchers did a good job keeping us in the second game, defense played good throughout the day. Overall, we're pleased."
The wins improved the Mean Green to 12-6 on the year and brought an end to a small two-game losing skid from the past weekend.
"Hopefully today will get us going a bit, give us a little bit of confidence moving forward," DeLong added.
Game 1 – North Texas 10, Omaha 0 (5)
Thursdays' opening game was an offensive output that the Mean Green lacked all last weekend in Arlington. North Texas scored more runs in game one on Thursday than they did during the entirety of last weekends' tournament as they knocked off Omaha 10-0 in five innings.
North Texas starter Hope Trautwein picked up the 52 win of her career after throwing three innings in which she allowed just three hits and struck out five hitters. Janie Worthington provided an inning of relief and a strikeout while Bailey Tindell finished the deal with her first appearance of the season.
After a scoreless first inning for both teams the Mean Green would blow the game wide open in the top of the second. North Texas used four hits and a trio of errors by Omaha to plate eight runs highlighted by Tayla Evans reaching and advancing to third on one error by the left fielder to lead off the inning, then doubling home the seventh run of the frame with two outs as the Mean Green sent 12 hitters to the plate.
Maia Wark opened the scoring with a groundout that scored Evans, Rayna Lewis then had an infield single that scored Kourtney Williams who had reached after getting hit by a pitch. A walk to Ashlyn Walker and a muffed sacrifice bunt by Candain Callahan loaded the bases for Molly Rainey. Rainey then reached on another error by the left fielder that scored a pair of runs. A Tuesday DerMargosian single and a pair of wild pitches would plate two more runs before Evans' double followed by an single by Williams.
North Texas would add a run in the third after Callahan scored Lewis after she had led the inning off with a double. Miranda Holguin would have an RBI single in the fourth which accounted for her first RBI since the 2018 season.
Tindell would take over in the fifth and after the leadoff batter was hit by a pitch, she would induce a double play on a liner to Callahan before fielding her position to end the game and lock up the run-rule victory.
Game 2 – North Texas 4, Missouri State 3
It was another instant classic between the Mean Green and Bears that resulted in North Texas' third-straight one-run victory over Missouri State and second this month as they knocked them off 4-3 in the second game on Thursday.
Ariel Thompson picked up her first start of the season in the circle and provided 3.1 innings of two-hit softball in which she gave up one earned run and struck out seven. GiGi Wall would earn her sixth win of the season with 2.2 innings of relief, striking out three and Trautwein would pick up her second save of the season by striking out the side in the seventh, bringing her career total to 533.
The Mean Green opened up the scoring with a four-run first inning that saw four different players register a hit. Three-straight one-out singles from DerMargosian, Tarah Hilton and Evans would load the bases for North Texas. Kalei Christensen would reach on a Missouri State error with two-away to plate DerMargosian and Hilton, then and double steal would allow Evans to score before a single from Lewis would plate Christensen.
Missouri State would plate a run in the third on a two-out single after the leadoff hitter was walked and would chase Thompson from the game in the fourth after a one-out walk and single, giving way to Wall. A single would load the bases before Wall would record back-to-back strikeouts to leave the bases loaded.
The Bears would add two runs in the sixth but would not be able to push the tying run across the plate. Trautwein would come out of the bullpen in the seventh and strike out the side to end the game and put a bow on a Thursday sweep in Kansas.
"Wins are always good and we played better overall," head coach Rodney DeLong said. "There were still some things that we could've done better in the second game, but we were gritty, pitchers did a good job keeping us in the second game, defense played good throughout the day. Overall, we're pleased."
The wins improved the Mean Green to 12-6 on the year and brought an end to a small two-game losing skid from the past weekend.
"Hopefully today will get us going a bit, give us a little bit of confidence moving forward," DeLong added.
Game 1 – North Texas 10, Omaha 0 (5)
Thursdays' opening game was an offensive output that the Mean Green lacked all last weekend in Arlington. North Texas scored more runs in game one on Thursday than they did during the entirety of last weekends' tournament as they knocked off Omaha 10-0 in five innings.
North Texas starter Hope Trautwein picked up the 52 win of her career after throwing three innings in which she allowed just three hits and struck out five hitters. Janie Worthington provided an inning of relief and a strikeout while Bailey Tindell finished the deal with her first appearance of the season.
After a scoreless first inning for both teams the Mean Green would blow the game wide open in the top of the second. North Texas used four hits and a trio of errors by Omaha to plate eight runs highlighted by Tayla Evans reaching and advancing to third on one error by the left fielder to lead off the inning, then doubling home the seventh run of the frame with two outs as the Mean Green sent 12 hitters to the plate.
Maia Wark opened the scoring with a groundout that scored Evans, Rayna Lewis then had an infield single that scored Kourtney Williams who had reached after getting hit by a pitch. A walk to Ashlyn Walker and a muffed sacrifice bunt by Candain Callahan loaded the bases for Molly Rainey. Rainey then reached on another error by the left fielder that scored a pair of runs. A Tuesday DerMargosian single and a pair of wild pitches would plate two more runs before Evans' double followed by an single by Williams.
North Texas would add a run in the third after Callahan scored Lewis after she had led the inning off with a double. Miranda Holguin would have an RBI single in the fourth which accounted for her first RBI since the 2018 season.
Tindell would take over in the fifth and after the leadoff batter was hit by a pitch, she would induce a double play on a liner to Callahan before fielding her position to end the game and lock up the run-rule victory.
Game 2 – North Texas 4, Missouri State 3
It was another instant classic between the Mean Green and Bears that resulted in North Texas' third-straight one-run victory over Missouri State and second this month as they knocked them off 4-3 in the second game on Thursday.
Ariel Thompson picked up her first start of the season in the circle and provided 3.1 innings of two-hit softball in which she gave up one earned run and struck out seven. GiGi Wall would earn her sixth win of the season with 2.2 innings of relief, striking out three and Trautwein would pick up her second save of the season by striking out the side in the seventh, bringing her career total to 533.
The Mean Green opened up the scoring with a four-run first inning that saw four different players register a hit. Three-straight one-out singles from DerMargosian, Tarah Hilton and Evans would load the bases for North Texas. Kalei Christensen would reach on a Missouri State error with two-away to plate DerMargosian and Hilton, then and double steal would allow Evans to score before a single from Lewis would plate Christensen.
Missouri State would plate a run in the third on a two-out single after the leadoff hitter was walked and would chase Thompson from the game in the fourth after a one-out walk and single, giving way to Wall. A single would load the bases before Wall would record back-to-back strikeouts to leave the bases loaded.
The Bears would add two runs in the sixth but would not be able to push the tying run across the plate. Trautwein would come out of the bullpen in the seventh and strike out the side to end the game and put a bow on a Thursday sweep in Kansas.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Trautwein, Hope (4-2)
L: Kamryn Meyer (2-4)

Batting:
2B: Evans, Tayla 1 ; Gamble, Kailey 1 ; Lewis, Rayna 1
RBI: Rainey, Molly 1 ; Evans, Tayla 1 ; Williams, Kourtney 1 ; Holguin, Miranda 1 ; Wark, Maia 1 ; Lewis, Rayna 1 ; Callahan, Candain 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rainey, Molly 1 ; DerMargosian, Tuesday 1 ; Evans, Tayla 2 ; Gamble, Kailey 1 ; Williams, Kourtney 1 ; Lewis, Rayna 2 ; Walker, Ashlyn 1 ; Callahan, Candain 1
HBP: Williams, Kourtney 1

Batting:
2B: Lexi Burkhardt 1
Base Running:
SB: Emily Klosterman 1
HBP: Sydney Ross 1
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