University of North Texas
27-12, 9-5
UTSA
15-21, 2-12
Softball Sweeps UTSA
4/6/2025 7:21:00 PM | Softball
UNT extends winning streak to six games
DENTON, Texas – Mean Green softball won both games of its doubleheader over UTSA and collected an American Athletic Conference series sweep Sunday at Lovelace Stadium. In game one, UNT posted a 12-4 comeback win in six innings while the series finale ended 12-3 in five innings.
"I thought we played pretty well," head coach Rodney DeLong said. "We pitched well and faced a little adversity today, being down four runs and came back to get a run-rule. We're swinging the bat right now and we're pretty confident, so it's a good time to start playing well."
North Texas (28-12, 10-5) moved into sole possession of second place in The American with its three-game sweep of the Roadrunners (15-22, 2-13) and Florida Atlantic's 2-1 series victory over South Florida.
The Mean Green completed the series with 33 runs scored and have scored over 30 runs in each of its past three conference series. Before this season, the 30-run mark in a league series had only been reached three other times with the last in 2023.
In game one, UNT trailed 4-0 after the top of the fourth inning before the bats came alive for 12 unanswered runs. The victory marked the 15th comeback win of the season for the Mean Green, the most in The American.
Freshman Taylor Platt recorded the game-winning hit with a slapped RBI single to trigger the run-rule victory in the sixth inning. After entering as a defensive substitution, she finished 2-for-2 with one run scored and one RBI.
Each of the top four batters in North Texas' batting order scored two runs while Riley McNemar, Kailyn Bearpaw and Rylee Nicholson each drove in a pair. Tatum Sparks joined Platt as the only two UNT batters with multiple hits in the first game.
Starting pitcher Anneca Anderson (W, 11-3) matched her season-high mark of five strikeouts with a complete game victory over six innings of work and only one walk.
In game two, the hot hitting continued as the Mean Green opened the game with nine unanswered runs over the first two innings including a leadoff home run from Sparks in the first and a two-run blast from Bearpaw in the second.
Bearpaw matched her season high of four RBI in game two with two runs scored and two hits. Over her past seven games, Bearpaw is 14-for-21 with nine runs scored, 12 RBI and six extra-base hits, including three home runs.
Freshman Shelby Buffington (W, 1-0) tallied her first career win after she held the Roadrunners scoreless on one hit and one walk over 1 1/3 innings of work, punctuating the outing with her first career strikeout. She followed starter Kayleigh Smith who set a new career-high mark of three strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings.
UP NEXT
UNT carries a six-game winning streak to Tarleton State Tuesday night with first pitch set for 6 p.m. from Tarleton Softball Complex.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Anderson, Anneca (11-3)
L: Ava Eldridge (4-4)
Batting:
2B: Sabrina Wick 1 ; Kalee Rochinski 1
HR: Kalee Rochinski 1
RBI: Kalee Rochinski 1 ; Lindsey Davis 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jaylen Prichard 1 ; Kalee Rochinski 2 ; Katia Reyes 1
Batting:
2B: Sparks, Tatum 1
RBI: McNemar, Riley 2 ; Moffitt, Elizabeth 1 ; Bearpaw, Kailyn 2 ; Conley, Madison 1 ; Nicholson, Rylee 2 ; Moore, Ausha 1 ; Platt, Taylor 1
SF: Bearpaw, Kailyn 2 ; Conley, Madison 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sparks, Tatum 2 ; McNemar, Riley 2 ; Simon, Cierra 2 ; Moffitt, Elizabeth 2 ; Gaddis, Caydance 1 ; Conley, Madison 1 ; Brock, Katy 1 ; Platt, Taylor 1
SB: Simon, Cierra 1 ; Moffitt, Elizabeth 1
CS: Nicholson, Rylee 1
HBP: Conley, Madison 1 ; Moore, Ausha 1
