TAMPA, Fla. – Mean Green softball lost its series opener 5-4 to South Florida on Thursday night at USF Softball Stadium.
North Texas (27-25, 14-11) held a 4-1 lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning before the Bulls (38-15, 19-6) tied the game with a trio of runs in the frame. In the seventh, USF collected a leadoff double before an errant throw on a sacrifice bunt scored the game-winning run.
Starting pitcher Anneca Anderson (ND) gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks with one strikeout before Britney Lewinski (L, 14-13) was saddled with the decision on one unearned run.
The Mean Green overcame an early one-run deficit with a parade of hits in the second inning as Ariah Mitchell tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI double before Riley McNemar ripped an RBI single into left-center field to take the lead.
Anderson held the Bulls scoreless for the subsequent four innings before UNT doubled its lead in the sixth when a pair of throwing errors led to Eva Daniels and Madison Conley scoring a pair of unearned runs.
Both Bradi Harman and Blayze McNemar collected multi-hit games as Harman dropped her 12th double of the season. She is tied for the 10th most doubles in single-season program history as she chases Conley, who is tied for third at 14.
UNT meets South Florida for game two Friday at 3:05 p.m. CT on ESPN+ from USF Softball Stadium.
