University of North Texas
Southern Illinois
Softball Faces Road Test In Starkville
2/13/2025 9:00:00 AM | Softball
The Mean Green face its first ranked opponent against No. 19 Mississippi State on Friday
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mean Green softball travels to Mississippi State for The Snowman: Alex Wilcox Memorial presented by Newk's Eatery for a three-day tournament beginning on Friday at 9 a.m. versus Southern Illinois.
North Texas (4-1) will face hosts No. 19 Mississippi State (4-1) on Friday at 2 p.m. on SEC Network+ before a rematch with Southern Illinois (1-4) on Saturday at 9 a.m. The weekend will close on Sunday against Bradley (2-3) at 9 a.m. and Georgia Tech (4-1) at 11:30 a.m.
Of the four opposing teams, the Mean Green have only faced Georgia Tech since the modern era of UNT softball began in 2004. In its last meeting, North Texas defeated the Yellow Jackets 3-1 in Atlanta on Feb. 12, 2023, and holds a 2-1 series lead. Head coach Rodney DeLong will play his second game against Georgia Tech after he served as an assistant coach there in 2017.
UNT opened the season at the Trojan Invitational in Troy, Ala., and finished 4-1 with wins over Troy and Samford along with two victories over Central Michigan. The five-game mark matches the second-best start in program history, behind only 2023 when the team opened with a 7-0 record.
On Sunday, DeLong secured his 200th program win at UNT and became only the fourth head coach, in any sport, to hit the milestone with the Mean Green. He joined soccer's John Hedlund (400-158-47; 1995-present), women's basketball's Tina Slinker (241-287; 1989-2009) and men's basketball's Pete Shanda (224-258; 1935-59) as members of the elite club at North Texas.
Senior RHP Skylar Savage made four appearances with 15 strikeouts and a 2.14 ERA over 16 1/3 innings. She tallied a 1-0 record with two saves and spun a seven-inning complete-game victory against the Trojans. Offensively, Kailyn Bearpaw led the team with seven hits, two home runs, eight RBI and 14 total bases. She slashed .438/.875/.526 with three walks and collected her first career stolen base.
