University of North Texas
(4) Western Kentucky
MGSB Opens C-USA Championship with WKU
5/12/2021 9:00:00 PM | Softball
 |
 (1) NORTH TEXAS (37-10, 18-2 C-USA) vs (4) WESTERN KENTUCKY (28-12, 10-6 C-USA) May 13, 2021 • 2 p.m. CT • 2021 Conference USA Softball Championship WKU Softball Complex • Bowling Green, KY |
 |
||||||
| Watch • Live Stats • UNT Game Notes • Championship Central Last Meeting: WKU 8, UNT 0 - April 14, 2019 North Texas Record vs Western Kentucky: 16-24-1 • Streak: WKU, 1 |
||||||||
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The regular season champion North Texas Mean Green (37-10, 18-2 C-USA) are set to kick off the 2021 Conference USA Softball Championship by taking on the host Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (28-12, 10-6 C-USA) on Thursday, May 13 with first pitch set for 2 p.m.
Thursday's play in Bowling Green begins the double-elimination portion of the 2021 Softball Championship. With the Mean Green winning the regular season title outright, they secured the No. 1 seed and a double-bye into the quarterfinals while Western Kentucky had to beat UTSA by a score of 3-2 on Wednesday night to move into Thursday's action. Second-seeded UAB will take one Charlotte at 4:30 in the other quarterfinal matchup.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) with fans having live stats available through the softball schedule page. The winner of Thursday's game will move into the first semifinal on Friday at noon while the loser will play facing elimination at 2:30 p.m.Â
Quick Hits
• North Texas takes on Western Kentucky to begin the 2021 Conference USA Championship.
• The Mean Green enter the week after winning 18-straight Conference USA matchups to claim their first outright regular season title in program history.
• Head Coach Rodney DeLong was named Conference USA's Coach of the Year while Hope Trautwein was named the Pitcher of the Year, Tuesday DerMargosian earned Newcomer of the Year honors and Janie Worthington was named the Freshman of the Year.
• Trautwein, DerMargosian and Worthingon all earned First Team All-Conference distinction while GiGi Wall, Ashlyn Walker and Kailey Gamble earned Second Team honors and Walker, Worthington and Maia Wark earned All-Freshman honors.
• North Texas is the first school in Conference USA history to claim four out of the five postseason individual superlative awards while placing a program-best eight players on All-Conference teams.
• For the second consecutive tournament, North Texas enters as the No. 1 overall seed and received a double-bye into the double elimination part of the week.Â
North Texas vs. Western Kentucky
• The Mean Green and Hilltoppers are meeting for the 42nd overall matchup between the two programs and for the first time during the postseason as members of Conference USA.
• Western Kentucky holds a 24-16-1 advantage in the previous matchups.
• While this is the first time North Texas and Western Kentucky are meeting in the Conference USA Championship, the two teams played each other five times during the Sun Belt tournament from 2004-2012, the Mean Green own a 3-2 record during those matchups.
• North Texas and Western Kentucky last met during the 2019 season when the Hilltoppers took 2-of-3 from the Mean Green in Bowling Green.
• The Hilltoppers are led offensively by redshirt senior Paige Carter who boasts a .382 average with a team-high 50 hits and .763 slugging %. Redshirt Senior Kelsey Aikey has taken on the bulk of innings in the circle for WKU posting a 2.71 ERA in 85.1 IP with a team-high 92 strikeouts.
• Western Kentucky is led by ninth-year head coach Amy Tudor.
• North Texas is looking to win it's opening game in the Conference USA tournament for the first time since 2014 when they beat Florida Atlantic 5-1.
