NORMAN, OKLAHOMA – After winning five of the last six contests and sitting in second place in Conference USA, the Mean Green have their toughest test ahead of them on Wednesday when they take on the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners at 6 p.m.
“We’re really excited about this opportunity,” coach Rodney DeLong said. “We have nothing to lose. We’re trying to get better, and teams like this make us better. We really just want to enjoy the moment, compete with them and see what we’re made of.”
Oklahoma has won two of the last three Women’s College World Series. They come into the holding an impressive 25-2 record, with their losses coming at the hands of No. 3 Florida State and No. 1 UCLA.
No matter the result, this game against Oklahoma will help out UNT’s RPI and will give the Mean Green a chance to reach the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid if they continue to play at a high level.
During the fall, North Texas played a doubleheader against the Sooners at Lovelace Stadium and competed well, dropping one of the games 4-2.
Oklahoma has plenty of weapons in their arsenal, as they do every year from recruiting the best players around the world. Sooner infielder Caleigh Clifton was just named Big 12 Player of the Week while Giselle Juarez earned Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season.
OU leads the Big 12 in almost every statistic, including a .366 team batting average, .453 on-base-percentage, 45 home runs, a 1.09 team ERA and 11 strikeouts per seven innings.
Needless to say, the task at hand for North Texas will be the toughest they’ve faced since playing No. 1 Florida in 2017, especially without leading hitter Katie Clark, who will be sidelined until Saturday with a thumb injury.
However, this seems to be a special North Texas softball team who have played well over the last two weeks.
Just two weeks ago at a tournament in Lubbock, UNT committed seven errors in a game against UTA. After committing two errors in game one against UTEP, the Mean Green cleaned up their defense and didn’t have an error in the final 14 innings.
To go along with improved defense, the North Texas pitching staff were brilliant over the last weekend, allowing only four runs through three games.
"Playing to my strengths is what I need to be confident in because I know my stuff is good," Trautwein said. "My team has the confidence behind me as well, so I think if I can execute and play my game then I will be pretty successful."
Bailey Tindell and Jenna Goodrich have both showed great signs of improvement within the circle. Tindell – who is just a freshman – seems to be adjusting to Division 1 softball with every appearance.
And like DeLong has said all year, this batting lineup is the strength of this UNT team.
Clark, Harley Perella and Lacy Gregory lead the top of the lineup, and Clark is one of the nation’s top hitters with a .467 batting average – which is why it’s unfortunate that she will be held out of the lineup on Wednesday due to her injury.
The emergence of freshman first baseman Tayla Evans has also sprung this Mean Green lineup into an even greater monster. Evans batted 6-for-7 with 4 RBIs in the three-game series against UTEP, and the Collinsville native finished the weekend with a .900 on-base-percentage.
"We just have to stick in there tomorrow," Clark said. "There will be wins and losses throughout the entire game on both sides. The great thing about this sport is that a pitcher can beat you three times, but the last time you can figure something out and make a clutch play to help your team win a game."
A win tomorrow without the Mean Green's leadoff hitter seems unlikely, but Evans and the rest of North Texas will look to grab what would be the most monumental win in program history. As they say, softball is a crazy sport and “anything can happen.”
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