DENTON — Randee Crawford, Celeste Loughman and Lindsey Stewart had two hits apiece, but North Texas held off UTSA, 7-4, in Conference USA action on Sunday afternoon at Lovelace Stadium.
The Roadrunners (12-20, 2-7 C-USA) pounded out 10 hits, but the Mean Green (17-13, 6-3) made the most of their six base knocks in completing the three-game sweep.
UTSA stormed out to a 2-0 advantage in its first at-bat. Back-to-back bunt singles by Stewart and Loughman set the table for Rylee Rodriguez, who pushed the first run of the game home on a base hit to right field. Crawford followed with another single to right to plate Loughman.
North Texas answered with a four-spot in the bottom of the frame. With runners on first and third and one out, Danielle Gregory bounced a ground ball to second base that made it 2-1. Harley Perella followed with an RBI single up the middle and Hanna Rebar then gave the Mean Green an early cushion with a two-run home run to center.
The Mean Green added to their lead after a bases-loaded walk to Kelli Schkade in the third made it 5-2.
North Texas plated two runs in the sixth on another run-scoring single by Perella and a double steal that saw Gregory swipe home.
The Roadrunners made things interesting in their final at-bat. Hailey Garza led off the seventh by reaching base on an error by the second baseman. She then moved to third on a double to left center by Taylor Oberg. After a foul-out, both runners came home on a single by Stewart to pull UTSA to within 7-4. Stewart was thrown out trying to reach second on the play and following a base hit by Loughman, North Texas got out of the jam with a popup.
Stacey Underwood (9-5) picked up the win, allowing four runs (one earned) on 10 hits in the complete game. Chelsea Parker (0-3) took the loss.
UTSA will host Texas (17-14) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29, at Roadrunner Field.
