DENTON – A group of five school will always have a tough road to the NCAA Tournament in any sport because of a “lack of strength” in scheduling.
North Texas has one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation and will play their fifth top-25 team on Wednesday when they travel to Stillwater to take on No. 12 Oklahoma State.
The North Texas Mean Green currently sit No. 54 in RPI, according to ncaa.com. RPI is a measuring system that ranks teams based upon wins and losses and strength of schedule.
To make it even more confusing, the RPI is comprised of a team’s winning percentage (25%), its opponents’ winning percentage (50%) and the winning percentage of those opponents’ opponents (25%).
All winners of their respected conference tournaments receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but only 32 other teams will be rewarded with an invite. That’s where RPI comes into play.
For North Texas to have a chance at the NCAA Tournament without winning the C-USA Tournament, they need to finish with an RPI below 50. Ideally, the Mean Green would love to finish in the low-40’s, which would give them a decent chance at going dancing in May.
No matter what, playing at No. 13 Oklahoma State on Wednesday will improve UNT’s RPI. However, a win could do wonders for this Mean Green team and the future of their postseason.
“They have a great offense and obviously they pitch well too,” head coach Rodney DeLong said. “It’ll be tough but we have nothing to lose and we’re just looking forward to getting better.”
The two actually met up in this past fall, with OSU storming back to beat North Texas 8-6 in comeback fashion. DeLong doesn’t think the fall game will have much impact on Wednesday’s game.
“It’s hard to really compare a score anytime, especially from the fall,” DeLong said. “However, it got us familiar with the environment and familiar with our opponent. If we play a great game, we can compete with them.”
Now, let’s move on to Wednesday’s preview with the highly touted matchup against the Oklahoma State Cowgirls:
Oklahoma State (33-11, 10-2 Big 12)
In my opinion, this is probably the second-best team North Texas will go up against this season, besides No. 1 Oklahoma of course. The Cowgirls are loaded with talent in the field, in the circle and in the batter’s box, so this game will definitely test where UNT is at.
The Cowgirls are on a seven-game winning streak and have won nine of the last 10 games, including two out of three against No. 11 Texas and sweeps against Kansas and Iowa State.
Most of this winning streak has been led by their potent offense. OSU’s team batting average of .305 is led by Rylie Bayless, who has a .366 batting average and has hit .524 since Big 12 play started. Michaela Richbourg has also batted .400 in 12 games of conference play.
Samantha Show has batted an effective .333 while churning the most innings in the circle for the Cowgirls after transferring from Texas A&M and playing for the Aggies the past three seasons.
Along with her bat, Show – who won Texas Gatorade Player of the Year at Pearland High School as a sophomore – sports a 14-5 record with a 2.24 ERA in the circle.
“She’s one of the best players in the country,” DeLong said. “She throws hard and up in the zone. We have to make her pitch, be patient and try not to be overly aggressive. We need to swing in counts that are good for the hitter.”
Oklahoma State’s pitching staff is loaded with experience. To join Show as the top pitcher for the Cowgirls, senior Samantha Clakley’s 1.86 ERA is fifth in the Big 12.
North Texas (29-15, 14-4 C-USA)
The Mean Green are coming off a sweep over UTSA this past weekend and look to knock off a top-25 opponent for the third time this season. This game was originally scheduled to be played at Lovelace. However, due to large amounts of rain Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the game was moved to Oklahoma State.
The top four of this Mean Green lineup have dome some serious damage all year long, and all four have a place in the top 20 batting averages in C-USA.
Katie Clark has raised her average to .423 – which leads all of C-USA – after another solid performance in the three games against UTSA. Clark is second on the team with 10 doubles behind Lacy Gregory’s 13.
After a couple of tough weeks in the middle of the season, Harley Perella has responded with a full month of great performances. Perella has raised her average to .349 and leads the team with 41 runs scored while driving in 36 RBIs.
Lacy Gregory bats .341 and sits in second place in C-USA with 13 doubles and shares the team lead in RBIs (36) with Perella. Tayla Evans hits .340 and has hit five home runs.
However, the Mean Green have had a senior leader burst onto the scene here in the last several series. Sally Gastelo has come alive at the plate since the Saint Mary's series. After hitting two bases-clearing doubles against Saint Mary’s, Gastelo went 4-for-9 with 2 RBIs in the series against UTSA. She has raised her average to .298 and has driven in 10 runs as the DH.
“I realized this is my last go around, so I just took advantage of the little opportunities I got and just ran with it pretty much,” Gastelo said. “I’ve started with my hands a little higher, but other than that, it’s mostly mental.”
“Sally has been a spark for us offensively,” DeLong said. “She runs well and steals bases too. So her being productive just helps our versatility and makes us more athletic. If our top three or four get hot and Sally continues to play well, it makes us more dangerous moving forward.”