Smith Smashes Walk-Off Homer as Softball Drops Tulsa, 1-0

DENTON, Texas – For the second consecutive game, UNT softball collected a 1-0 win over Tulsa with a walk-off home run at Lovelace Stadium. On Saturday, senior Mikayla Smith was the hero that lifted the Mean Green to victory.

"Bringing [last night's] energy into today was really important for us," Smith said. "We compete and we don't take losing lightly."

Smith connected with a 3-2 pitch from Tulsa starting pitcher Anneca Anderson (L, 6-1) and lifted it beyond the left field wall. The walk-off marked the first and only hit of the day for the Mean Green.

BACK-TO-BACK WALK OFF WINNERS!!! @mikayla_smith46 becomes a hero for the Mean Green!!#LightTheTower 🟢 x #GMG 🦅 pic.twitter.com/fPPhZMj9bv
— North Texas Softball (@MeanGreenSB) March 23, 2024

"[Tulsa] kept challenging me inside," Smith added. "I like a good inside pitch so, eventually, I knew I was going to make them pay for throwing it."

North Texas (17-12, 7-1) clinched its third consecutive American Athletic Conference series and are tied atop the league with Florida Atlantic. The Mean Green have not opened conference play with a 7-1 record since head coach Rodney DeLong's first season in 2019.

"We had the right hitters up in that situation, so I liked our chances," DeLong said. "We weren't great at the plate today and we had some opportunities to get some hits. The message is stay with it and eventually someone is going to run into one."

Skylar Savage (W, 4-4) spun her second complete-game shutout of the season and sixth of her career. She added three strikeouts while allowing five hits and two walks.

Tulsa (19-10, 5-3) challenged Savage and the UNT defense with two runners in both the third and fourth innings, but the visitors were not able to convert them into runs. The play of the afternoon was on a double to right-center field that was collected by center fielder Jodie Epperson and relayed to Tatum Sparks at third base to record the second out of the fifth inning.

UP NEXT

The Mean Green finishes its conference series at Lovelace Stadium against the Golden Hurricane on Sunday at noon. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can purchase tickets for the game HERE.

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