Raiders Split Doubleheader with North Texas

Saturday, May 4

Denton, Texas

1 PM

Middle Tennessee

26-25, 10-12

North Texas

33-16, 18-4

Middle Tennessee

North Texas

5/4/2019 5:26:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: @MTAthletics

Denton, Texas- The Middle Tennessee softball team split a doubleheader against North Texas. The Raiders (27-25, C-USA 11-12) were led by southpaw Kailey Ahlstrom in both games against the Mean Green (33-17, C-USA 18-5).

Game 1: Middle Tennessee 0, North Texas 1

Game one was a pitchers duel against Kailey Ahlstrom for the Raiders and Hope Trautwein for the Mean Green. Both pitchers matched each other through five innings, throwing up zero after zero on the scoreboard.

The game remained scoreless until North Texas pushed across the game's only run in the bottom of the sixth inning, taking a 1-0 lead.

The Raiders only mustered one hit in the game one loss against the Mean Green.

Ahlstrom pitched six innings, allowed one run, on four hits, and struck out five.

Game 2: Middle Tennessee 4, North Texas 2

Game two began to look like more of the same as Corrina Dodd and Bailey Tendell started the game by putting up a pair of zeros in the first two innings of play.

The Raiders struck first in the top of the third on an RBI double from Samantha Valentine that plated Claire Smith from second base. Valentine moved up to third on a single by Summer Burgess and scored when Sydney Heath hit into a fielder's choice, and gave the Raiders a 2-0 lead.

North Texas cut the Raider lead in half on an RBI single by Katie Clark, making it 2-1.

The Raiders struck again in the fifth when Smith scored from third on a North Texas fielding error and Valentine was plated on a RBI single from Heath, stretching the Raider lead to 4-1. Heath finish the final game of the day with one hit and two RBI.

North Texas got one run back in the bottom of the sixth when a run was walked in, cutting the Raider lead to 4-2. With no outs and the bases loaded, Kailey Ahlstrom came on in relied for the Raiders. Ahlstrom retired three consecutive batters to strand the bases loaded.

Dodd and Ahlstrom combined to strand 13 North Texas base runners in game two.

Ahlstrom closed out game two for the Raiders and picked up her second save of the season and Dodd got win number 12 on the year.

"I thought Ahlstrom was good all day long today," says Head Coach Jeff Breeden. "One of the best things I liked about her today is that she finally showed some emotion in the circle."

I got really into this game because it was a truly challenging game," said Ahlstrom. "It was one of those games that everything was working and I really wanted to win."

Ahlstrom finished the day with seven strikeouts, in eight innings, and allow one lone run.

Up Next

The Raiders will play the rubber match of the series with North Texas tomorrow at high noon. After the series has concluded, the Raiders will make their way to Birmingham, Alabama for the C-USA conference tournament on May 8.