Softball opens 2024 season in Tucson tournament

[Matt from A700]

In my effort to get softball its own forum, hopefully we can generate enough interest to have a thread for every series this year. The wait is finally over - the softball ladies return to the field this Friday in Tucson where they will play six games, opponents and times below in Central:

Friday at 2 pm - Utah Tech
Friday at 7 pm - Arizona
Saturday at 2 pm - Utah Tech
Saturday at 7 pm -  Arizona
Sunday at 9:30 am - Lipscomb
Sunday at 11:30 am - Northern Colorado

The hosts, Arizona, finished a mediocre 29-25 last season, but swept the same tournament in five games against Long Beach, NCSU, and Kansas by a combined score of 63-6.

Last year, we swept our inaugural tournament in Atlanta, incuding wins over UConn and the host, Georgia Tech.

We return pretty much everyone from last year's 35-22 campaign. We only had two seniors who graduated and only one that played significantly - our ace Ashley Peters. Notable players entering their senior year include Lexi Cobb, Molly Rainey, Kalei Christensen, McKenzie Wagoner, and our power hitter Kailey Gamble. Gamble is coming off of back-to-back 16 homer seasons, which are the fourth most in a season by a UNT player.

After reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2022, last year was a bit of a disappointment. Yet the ladies still had a chance to win the conference title - but lost 3-2 to MTSU in a 12-inning duel, somewhat marred by a blown call on MTSU's third run which replays showed was obviously an out at home plate. However, it was also the Mean Green struggling to string any hits together - something that happened quite a bit. We hit only .242 as a team in 2023, compared to .290 in 2022. The infield also struggled with silly errors that extended opponents' innings.

If the Mean Green can improve upon those two things in 2024, they stand a good chance for some postseason ball. Wichita State brings a competitive team that beat us twice in our own tournament in 2023. But other than the Lady Shockers, we're entering an American conference that had a handful of schools who don't field a softball team. Five of the current 10 teams are CUSA reinforcements. UNT finished better than all of those refugees except for Charlotte.

Come out and watch some games at Lovelace this season! Some notable home games that will sell out include:
Sat, 2/17 vs. Mizzou (1:30p)
Sun, 2/18 vs. Mizzou (11a)
Sat, 2/24 vs. Texas Tech (7p)
Sun, 2/25 vs. Texas Tech (11:30a)
Wed, 4/3 vs. Oklahoma State (6p)
Wed, 4/17 vs. Texas A&M (6p)

[Matt from A700]

Preview of new helmets utilizing the Eagle/Texas logo we saw with football. Hopefully we see more green jerseys this year, but I expect we'll see more of the same: rotation between black, green, and white for every series.

[El Paso Eagle]

16 hours ago, Matt from A700 said:

Preview of new helmets utilizing the Eagle/Texas logo we saw with football. Hopefully we see more green jerseys this year, but I expect we'll see more of the same: rotation between black, green, and white for every series.

Nothing says Mean Green like.... never mind. Would it be too much this year if we play again on Saint Patrick's Day to wear green? Last year, it threw off the announcers when they said where else would you rather be on S.P. Day than the home of the Mean Green, and we came out in black.

P.S. - NO, I will never stop commenting when one of our teams chooses Black over Gren and White week after week, and the softball team is the worst at this.

[Matt from A700]

3 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

P.S. - NO, I will never stop commenting when one of our teams chooses Black over Gren and White week after week, and the softball team is the worst at this.

Make sure you don't look at the roster's headshots then... 😬

[Matt from A700]

Not sure the reason but all games today were delayed by an hour. UNT will now start their season at 3pm.

[UNTLifer]

52 minutes ago, Matt from A700 said:

Not sure the reason but all games today were delayed by an hour. UNT will now start their season at 3pm.

3pm CST or MST?

[Matt from A700]

45 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

3pm CST or MST?

Central, but got pushed again to 3:45. I assume the games before pushed it further.

Following on meangreenstats.com, Molly Rainey gets our ladies on the board first in the third with a two-run dinger.

 

Edited February 9 by Matt from A700

[Matt from A700]

Kat Ibarra also hit a double in her first AB with the Mean Green: