RUSTON -- Wow. Now that was a rollercoaster. Within the past 24 hours, UNT softball has experienced an eight-run comeback win, a new school record, a 4-2 loss and a gritty 5-2 victory to clinch the series against Conference USA's top team.
Not to mention the fact that all of this happened in Ruston, which is arguably the league's toughest venue for road teams considering the loud and rowdy fans supporting the Lady Techsters. This series win defines what this UNT softball program is becoming: energetic, tough, resilient and most of all, FUN.
"Rhylie [Makawe] was getting crazy and that's always what we need," freshman pitcher Bailey Tindell said. "We need the crazy and the fun. The sport can be fun."
During game one of the series, North Texas relinquished five first inning runs to Louisiana Tech and got down 8-0 through three innings. As most people probably stopped watching or listening -- including me -- the Mean Green continued to fight and earned their largest comeback victory all season while grabbing their first ever win in Ruston.
Hanna Rebar hit three home runs through the final four innings and finished with 6 RBIs. Rebar is the first player in program history to hit three home runs in a single game. She started off the season as hot as anyone on this North Texas team, but has since cooled off and had not hit a home run since the Mean Green Classic in February.
"We all love each other and believe in each other no matter how down we get," Rebar said. "It's really fun to play like that. Most teams are going to roll over at that point but we fought to the end."
The Mean Green hit five home runs in the game, tying the program record they set earlier this year at UT-Arlington. Lacy Gregory and Harley Perella each belted two-run homers over the center field fence, but with North Texas down 9-8 and one out away from defeat, Rebar came to the plate and knocked a two-run home run to give the Mean Green a one-run lead and the win on Saturday.
After a 4-2 loss in game two, North Texas was looking towards freshman pitcher Bailey Tindell to lead them to one of their most important wins all year.
Tindell pitched four innings of one-run softball and left the game with the Mean Green leading 3-1, which would end up being enough for her first collegiate win.
"I think we all had it in us and at the end of the day it took us batting and fighting like we did yesterday," Tindell said. La Tech seemed really flat and we just kind of overpowered them. We came loud and we came proud."
"Bailey's been throwing really well," DeLong said. "I was glad to see her finally get a win. She's deserved two or three other ones, but we finally played a solid defensive game behind her. She had a lot of success yesterday so we thought she'd be the one to go with, and she did a great job and gave us a chance to win."
Sophomore Hope Trautwein came in to relieve Tindell and collected the three-inning save while allowing just one run.
Makawe and Harley Perella got things rolling early for the Mean Green offense during game three. Makawe drove in Perella with an RBI single in the first inning, while Perella lined one down the right field line in the second inning to drive in Kenzie Young.
Lacy Gregory followed with a sacrifice fly in the fourth to give UNT a 3-0 lead. After the Lady Techsters scored two runs to narrow the gap to 3-2 heading into the sixth, freshman Tayla Evans doubled to right field to drive in Perella and Kourtney Williams to separate from La Tech and earn the series win.
"We grew up a lot from Wednesday night to today," DeLong said. "It was a huge team win and I think the mentality of the team and the growth this week is going to take us a long ways."
UP NEXT:
North Texas (18-11, 7-2 C-USA) will travel to Abilene Christian on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. first pitch. ACU is 7-18 on the year and struggling in the Southland Conference with a 1-8 record. The Lady Wildcats have lost seven in a row.
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