Mean Green Falls to Marshall in Rain-Shortened Series
North Texas' C-USA Tournament Hopes In the Balance After Herd Sweep
April 4, 2015
(G1) Box Score: Marshall 1, North Texas 0
(G2) Box Score: Marshall 16, North Texas 8
Season Statistics
HUNTINGTON, W. VA. -- In a weekend shortened by rain and limited by Easter weekend travel restrictions, North Texas and Marshall were lucky enough to finish two complete games. The Thundering Herd took both game one, a suspended over-night affair, 1-0, and game two, 16-8, to sweep the quick series.
Game one, which began on Friday afternoon, was plagued by on and off rainfall, creating a long day for both squads. When action finally started, North Texas looked like it might take control on the road early, knocking four hits and putting six baserunners on through the first five innings.
The Mean Green's best opportunity to score came in the top of the second, after Kelli Schkade reached on an error and stole second. Freshman Sarah Barker lined a single into left field that seemed to score the go-ahead run, however a near-perfect throw from the Herd outfield caught Schkade out at the plate to end the inning.
Freshman Monique Garcia took a perfect game into the bottom of the fifth, before trouble began to arise. Marshall used a walk and back-to-back singles to plate the game's only run, just as the rain and darkness caused officials to suspend the game to be picked up in the morning.
After resuming play, North Texas attempted to rally in the seventh thanks to another Barker base hit. She would be stranded at second, however, as the late-inning heroics weren't enough to overcome the 1-0 deficit.
Immediately after, in game two, the Mean Green wasted no time jumping on the Herd. North Texas used an impressive two-out rally in the top of the second to score three runs on three hits and a walk, including a Shelbie Smith solo home run and Barker triple to the wall.
Marshall responded to overtake the lead by scoring five in the third and three more in the fourth for a daunting 8-3 advantage. In the rough middle innings, North Texas allowed the Herd to take advantage of 10 hits and three errors, a treacherous stretch that is extremely uncharacteristic of the Mean Green.
North Texas did not lay down however, putting up a fight in the top of the fifth. After Spencer Ferrell walked and Taylor Schoblocher reached on an error, two seniors went to work trying to dig their team out of the hole. First, Dani Hoff hustled out an infield single to second base to load up the bases. Then the incredible happened, as Kat Strunk blasted a grand slam home run to deep center field to cut the deficit to 8-7.
Unfortunately, the one-run margin is as close as things would get in game two, as Marshall faced three different Mean Green pitchers in the bottom of the fifth, adding five runs on a two-out rally.
North Texas scratched across an unearned run in the top of the sixth, but Marshall's three spot in the bottom half would seal the run-rule victory.
Next Up:
After falling victim to its second consecutive C-USA sweep, North Texas will head to College Station, TX to take on Texas A&M in a midweek non-conference matchup. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, April 8, 2015.
Quick Hits:
(G1) Box Score: Marshall 1, North Texas 0
(G2) Box Score: Marshall 16, North Texas 8
Season Statistics
HUNTINGTON, W. VA. -- In a weekend shortened by rain and limited by Easter weekend travel restrictions, North Texas and Marshall were lucky enough to finish two complete games. The Thundering Herd took both game one, a suspended over-night affair, 1-0, and game two, 16-8, to sweep the quick series.
Game one, which began on Friday afternoon, was plagued by on and off rainfall, creating a long day for both squads. When action finally started, North Texas looked like it might take control on the road early, knocking four hits and putting six baserunners on through the first five innings.
The Mean Green's best opportunity to score came in the top of the second, after Kelli Schkade reached on an error and stole second. Freshman Sarah Barker lined a single into left field that seemed to score the go-ahead run, however a near-perfect throw from the Herd outfield caught Schkade out at the plate to end the inning.
Freshman Monique Garcia took a perfect game into the bottom of the fifth, before trouble began to arise. Marshall used a walk and back-to-back singles to plate the game's only run, just as the rain and darkness caused officials to suspend the game to be picked up in the morning.
After resuming play, North Texas attempted to rally in the seventh thanks to another Barker base hit. She would be stranded at second, however, as the late-inning heroics weren't enough to overcome the 1-0 deficit.
Immediately after, in game two, the Mean Green wasted no time jumping on the Herd. North Texas used an impressive two-out rally in the top of the second to score three runs on three hits and a walk, including a Shelbie Smith solo home run and Barker triple to the wall.
Marshall responded to overtake the lead by scoring five in the third and three more in the fourth for a daunting 8-3 advantage. In the rough middle innings, North Texas allowed the Herd to take advantage of 10 hits and three errors, a treacherous stretch that is extremely uncharacteristic of the Mean Green.
North Texas did not lay down however, putting up a fight in the top of the fifth. After Spencer Ferrell walked and Taylor Schoblocher reached on an error, two seniors went to work trying to dig their team out of the hole. First, Dani Hoff hustled out an infield single to second base to load up the bases. Then the incredible happened, as Kat Strunk blasted a grand slam home run to deep center field to cut the deficit to 8-7.
Unfortunately, the one-run margin is as close as things would get in game two, as Marshall faced three different Mean Green pitchers in the bottom of the fifth, adding five runs on a two-out rally.
North Texas scratched across an unearned run in the top of the sixth, but Marshall's three spot in the bottom half would seal the run-rule victory.
Next Up:
After falling victim to its second consecutive C-USA sweep, North Texas will head to College Station, TX to take on Texas A&M in a midweek non-conference matchup. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, April 8, 2015.
Quick Hits:
- After the conclusion of game two, North Texas and Marshall attempted to complete a third game. North Texas jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to a Karly Williams grand slam home run. However due to the Mean Green travel plans, the game had to be halted at 7-5 in the third inning to catch the flight home and the game will be considered unofficial.
- After ripping off its longest win streak of the season at seven games, North Texas has now dropped seven in a row. The streak is the longest of such a skid in 2015.
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