DENTON, Texas. – The Stephen F. Austin Softball team (4-11, 0-0) came into Sunday afternoon looking to extend their winning streak to three games, however, the UNT Mean Green (7-7, 0-0) defended their home turf as they defeated SFA by a final score of 3-0 in the finale of the UNT Invite.
Brooke Gainous drew the start in the circle for SFA today and pitched a clean first inning that saw both teams leave the first scoreless after one. The Mean Green would score the first runs of the game as Elizabeth Moffitt doubled in a run for the Mean Green to put them ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the second. Gainous would continue her strong pitching in the third and fourth innings, however, UNT was able to tack on another run in the bottom of the fifth to jump ahead 2-0. The Mean Green would tack on one more insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to take a 3-0 lead which they would not relinquish as they claimed a 3-0 win over the Lumberjacks in the final game of the UNT Invite.
Five different Lumberjacks recorded hits today as Madison Nguyen, Ellie Vance, Lexi Benson, Amiah Galcatcher, and Mallory Webb all recorded singles for SFA. Webb was on-base machine yet again as she was also able to draw a walk and reached base in both of her plate appearances today, while Hope Lusk drew a six pitch walk of her own. Ellie Vance continues to be a problem on the basepaths as she stole her third base of the season today.
Brooke Gainous and Alexis Telford combined to throw six innings today, striking out a pair of Mean Green batters, while inducing 11 flyouts and two groundouts from UNT today, and walking only one hitter. The Lumberjack defense continues to play at a high level as they recorded their third straight game committing zero errors defensively. Mallory Webb and Emily Land both tied for the team lead in putouts with five each, while Madison Nguyen finished second with three putouts of her own, and Chloe Reneau recorded a team-high two assists.
The Lumberjacks will be back on the road for their next game as they take a short trip east to Louisiana for a rematch with the Northwestern State Lady Demons on Tuesday, February 27th for an afternoon/evening doubleheader with the first pitch of game one scheduled for 3:00 p.m., and first pitch for the nightcap of the doubleheader happening approximately 30 minutes after the first game ends.
By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications