DENTON – Hope Trautwein shut down the UTEP lineup and the Mean Green used a two-run sixth inning during a 3-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at Lovelace Stadium, giving North Texas their first series sweep of the season.
“We needed three wins this weekend, especially after not sweeping last weekend,” coach Rodney DeLong said. “It puts us in a position to get to the top of the league and put a little pressure on those teams that are up there with us.”
Without leadoff hitter Katie Clark for most of the weekend – a minor injury to the wrist – UNT (16-9, 5-1 C-USA) was looking for someone to step up offensively at the top of the lineup.
Tayla Evans did just that, finishing the weekend 6-for-7 at the dish with 4 RBIs, 3 runs scored, two walks and a hit by pitch. She batted .857 and recorded a .900 on-base-percentage throughout the three wins against Texas-El Paso.
“I was a bit more comfortable and I really prepared well this week,” Evans said. “I focused more on my hitting.”
Another huge reason to why the Mean Green were so successful this weekend – and pretty much all year – was the dominance of Trautwein. The sophomore allowed just three runs over the course of 13 innings this weekend.
Junior pitcher/designated player Jenna Goodrich came up huge for UNT on Saturday. After a 10-2 run rule win in game one with Trautwein in the circle, Goodrich started game two and pitched five innings without allowing a run during a 5-2 win.
Two-hole hitter Harley Perella came into the series struggling at the plate, but the senior third baseman had a weekend that could spark an offensive outburst moving forward.
In game one, Perella lined a shot over the right field fence for a grand slam. She finished the weekend 4-for-9 with 4 RBIs, 3 runs scored and a .583 on-base-percentage.
“Hitting is like a roller coaster with everybody,” Perella said. “You just have to be patient and know that if you stick with it and stick to the process, your time will come again.”
Six games into Conference USA play, North Texas sits in second place behind Louisiana Tech (19-7, 3-0 C-USA) while the Mean Green face off against a couple tough teams this week.
North Texas will travel to No. 2 Oklahoma on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. showdown with the Sooners. OU comes into the game with a 25-2 record and winners of three of the last four national championships.
Next weekend, UNT will travel to Ruston for another HUGE series against Louisiana Tech, who is currently receiving votes to get in the Top 25. North Texas will look to hand the Bulldogs their first loss in conference play and gain possession of first place in C-USA.
“It’s always a dogfight with LA Tech so it will be an interesting series and be back-and-forth,” Perella said. “They have some gritty fans and they’re environment is something else, but that’s something that we’ll embrace and use to our advantage.”
Mean Green fans, we have a fun weekend ahead of us.
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