North Texas Hosts UAB For Season Finale
Mean Green To Honor Seniors Bryana Wade And Karly Williams On Sunday

May 6, 2016

DENTON — The North Texas softball team closes out the 2016 season with a three-game home series against UAB this weekend at Lovelace Stadium. The Mean Green will also honor their two seniors, catcher Bryana Wade and second baseman Karly Williams, before Sunday’s season finale.

The series opens with a doubleheader Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m., with Sunday’s series finale set for 1 p.m. first pitch. A free live stream will be available for Saturday’s game at MeanGreenSports.com, while live stats will be available for all three games at MeanGreenSports.com.

North Texas (20-32, 3-18 C-USA) has lost 12 straight Conference USA games and 13 straight games overall. In the midweek on Wednesday, the Mean Green rallied late but fell to Texas 4-2 in Austin. UAB (24-28, 13-8 C-USA) currently sits in the top spot of the Western Division standings and has already clinched a spot in the Conference USA Tournament.

“UAB is a team that’s playing for a lot this weekend,” head coach Tracey Kee said. “When you look at our conference, these three games are crucial to them. For us, it’s a pride thing. We want to end the season and send our seniors out on a positive note. We need to be prepared for a very aggressive, very hungry team in UAB.”

Junior shortstop Kelli Schkade looks to put an exclamation point on a stellar season that has her leading Conference USA in home runs (13) and slugging percentage (.725) and ranks third in on-base percentage (.469) and fourth in batting average (.389).

Seniors Bryana Wade and Karly Williams, two four-year starters for the Mean Green, will also wear the green and white for the final time this weekend.

Wade will leave as the program’s all-time leader in throwing out runners attempting to steal, gunning down 55 runners during her career, including a school-record 23 runners as a sophomore. She also lifted the team to a historic 1-0 win over No. 7 Baylor as a junior with the would-be, game-winning RBI double.

Williams has had a career year as a senior, hitting .311, third-best on the team, with 11 doubles and 29 RBI, both second-most on the team. She hit the game-tying, three-run home run against No. 21 Baylor in the Getterman Classic championship game, to send the game into extra innings. She also set a career high for hits in a game, going 4-for-4 with a double and a home run against UTSA earlier this season.

“Whether you’re in the conference tournament or out of the conference tournament, you want to finish the season strong,” Kee said. “We have tapered off here, but this team hasn’t quit. They haven’t rolled over. As a coach, that’s what you look. They’re still gritty. They’re still hanging in there.”