Box Score (Game One) 

Box Score (Game Two) 

Season Statistics 

ITTA BENA, Miss. – North Texas softball coach Tracey Kee became the 32nd active coach to reach 800 career wins as the Mean Green swept Saturday afternoon’s double-header against Mississippi Valley State.

“The credit goes to all the student-athletes that have played for me,” Kee said. “I’ve had a great staff and some good people supporting me throughout.

Game One

Maria Priest (9-11) earned the win with a complete-game effort, striking out four and allowing just two hits.

“My team did a great job of coming out and starting off with great energy,” Priest said.

Camille Grahmann put North Texas on the board first after she singled to lead off the game, stole two bags and scored on a wild pitch. The Mean Green (20-17) were held to just one hit until the fourth inning, when Hanna Rebar recorded her first career triple and later scored on a Hannah Gerecke double.

In the following inning, the first five North Texas hitters reached base safely, including a Lindsay Gregory double to clear the bases and double the Mean Green lead.

“I just tried to take it back to the basics and put good swings on balls,” Gregory said. “I just wanted to put the ball in play and make things happen.”

The Mean Green put up another three-spot in the top of the sixth, headlined by a two-run home run for Rhylie Makawe to make it 9-0.

“It was about understanding what we needed to do to make those adjustments and put charges into balls,” Makawe said. “I just wanted to square something up hard and do something good for the team.”

Game Two

Back-to-back errors and a wild pitch set up the Devilettes (7-24) to score a pair of first-inning runs, their first of the series. In the ensuing half inning, Lacy Gregory blasted her seventh home run of the season, matching her total from her freshman campaign.

“We weren’t executing well and they took advantage of it,” Kee said. “Good teams are going to do that. We’ve got to come out with fire. We can’t make those mistakes early. This team scrapped back into it and didn’t roll over. That showed some character.”

MVSU answered in the home-half of the second with an RBI single from Lexany Terrones, who scored the next at-bat on a Deshonte Smith triple to make it 4-1. Two innings later, North Texas (21-17) manufactured a two-out rally, beginning with a RBI triple for Lindsay Gregory, who scored on Nicole Ochotnicki’s double in the ensuing at-bat.

“Early in the season, I was trying too hard to hit balls in the gap,” Gregory said. “I’ve shortened up and tried to hit balls up the middle and that’s really helped me out.”

Five of the first six batters got on base as the Mean Green flipped the game on its head with four runs on four hits in the top of the sixth, including a pair of two-run singles from Lindsay Gregory and Rhylie Makawe.

“Coach just told me to hit hard and through,” Makawe said. “I was just trying to put something in play and not in the air.”

Hope Trautwein (12-6) came in for starting pitcher Ally Lindsey to begin the fifth inning and struck out a pair of batters in each inning pitched to give the offense time to complete the comeback and to hold off the Devilettes in the last two innings.

“We changed it up a bit today,” Trautwein said. “I threw some different stuff and different speeds, so I wasn’t worried about facing their hitters again. I just wanted to shut them down.”

UP NEXT

North Texas returns home to host Organ Donor Awareness Night against Houston Baptist at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Fans will have the opportunity to register as organ donors and are encouraged to wear green and blue.

QUICK HITTERS

• Makawe became the eighth Mean Green player with multiple home runs this season.
• North Texas has won its last four weekend series, including two sweeps.
• The Mean Green won for the first time when trailing after five innings (1-11).