Saturday, May 13
Ruston, Louisiana
Noon CT
University of North Texas
35-22
2
vs
3
No. 6 Middle Tennessee
39-18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
R
H
E
MTSU
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
10
3
UNT
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
4
2
Photo by: Zach Del Bello
Softball Drops C-USA Title Game
5/13/2023 8:04:00 PM | Softball
RUSTON, La. – UNT softball fell 3-2 in 12 innings to Middle Tennessee in the Conference USA Championship final at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field on Saturday.
"I'm really proud of this group," head coach Rodney DeLong said. "They fought back and we were one win away from being conference champs. I'm proud of them. The game didn't go our way today but I'm proud of them. I'm proud of their fight, proud of their effort, proud of their resilience."
North Texas (35-22, 16-8) ends its season in the second-longest game in program history by innings played, tied with a 12-inning contest against California Baptist on Feb. 8, 2019. Sunday's game against MTSU (39-18, 13-10) also matched the record for longest game in C-USA Championship history and was the first final to reach extra innings.
The Mean Green fought back from a pair of deficits but dropped its eighth one-run loss of the season.
Kailey Gamble knocked in the first run of the day with an RBI single in the fourth inning to score Lexi Cobb. Gamble finished the season with top-10 marks in seven single-season categories including home runs, RBI and total bases.
Center fielder Cobb helped end a sixth-inning surge with a leaping catch in right-center field to rob a grand slam and hold the Blue Raiders to one run in the frame. She finished the game with a career-high mark with 11 putouts.
Cierra Simon leveled the score in the home half of the inning with her sixth home run of the season. She finished the day 2-for-4 and reached in her initial four plate appearances.
Senior Ashley Peters (ND) was tabbed for her 55th career start and threw four innings with two strikeouts. She allowed zero earned runs on three hits and zero walks.
Cobb, Simon and Peters were each selected as all-tournament team selections. Cobb and Peters repeated as members of the group as Simon received her first career selection.
McKenzie Wagoner (L, 12-8) spun 6 2/3 innings in relief and allowed one earned run on five hits and three walks with one strikeout. She led the league tournament with a 0.47 ERA over 15 innings of work.
"I'm really proud of this group," head coach Rodney DeLong said. "They fought back and we were one win away from being conference champs. I'm proud of them. The game didn't go our way today but I'm proud of them. I'm proud of their fight, proud of their effort, proud of their resilience."
North Texas (35-22, 16-8) ends its season in the second-longest game in program history by innings played, tied with a 12-inning contest against California Baptist on Feb. 8, 2019. Sunday's game against MTSU (39-18, 13-10) also matched the record for longest game in C-USA Championship history and was the first final to reach extra innings.
The Mean Green fought back from a pair of deficits but dropped its eighth one-run loss of the season.
Kailey Gamble knocked in the first run of the day with an RBI single in the fourth inning to score Lexi Cobb. Gamble finished the season with top-10 marks in seven single-season categories including home runs, RBI and total bases.
Center fielder Cobb helped end a sixth-inning surge with a leaping catch in right-center field to rob a grand slam and hold the Blue Raiders to one run in the frame. She finished the game with a career-high mark with 11 putouts.
Cierra Simon leveled the score in the home half of the inning with her sixth home run of the season. She finished the day 2-for-4 and reached in her initial four plate appearances.
Senior Ashley Peters (ND) was tabbed for her 55th career start and threw four innings with two strikeouts. She allowed zero earned runs on three hits and zero walks.
Cobb, Simon and Peters were each selected as all-tournament team selections. Cobb and Peters repeated as members of the group as Simon received her first career selection.
McKenzie Wagoner (L, 12-8) spun 6 2/3 innings in relief and allowed one earned run on five hits and three walks with one strikeout. She led the league tournament with a 0.47 ERA over 15 innings of work.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MEAD, Gretchen (17-5)
L: Wagoner, McKenzie (12-8)
Batting:
2B: SARGENT, Shelby 2
RBI: HARRIS, Amaya 1 ; BLEVINS, Ansley 1 ; TEPE, Ava 1
SH: ECHOLS, Shelby 1 ; GARCIA, Julia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ECHOLS, Shelby 1 ; HARVEY, Anyce 1 ; SARGENT, Shelby 1
SB: ECHOLS, Shelby 1
HBP: TEPE, Ava 1 ; MEDLOCK, Lexi 1
Batting:
HR: Simon, Cierra 1
RBI: Simon, Cierra 1 ; Gamble, Kailey 1
SH: Simon, Cierra 2 ; Smith, Mikayla 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cobb, Lexi 1 ; Simon, Cierra 1
CS: Simon, Cierra 1
HBP: Christensen, Kalei 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
LHP
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
RHP
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