Blue Raiders Fall 13-4 to North Texas

DENTON, Texas - North Texas scored 10 runs in the first three innings and Middle Tennessee could never recover as the Blue Raiders (13-18, 6-7) lost 13-4 in the second game of a doubleheader against the North Texas Mean Green (20-22, 8-6) at Lovelace Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Corrie Abel hit a grand-slam homerun to lead Middle Tennessee to a 8-4 win in the first game.

Blue Raider starter Kellie Head (4-7) picked up the loss. The freshman gave up 10 earned runs on 18 hits and walked one in 4.0 innings of action.

Jennifer Smith (7-9) got the start and the win for North Texas. The righty gave up four runs on five hits, while striking out four and walking one, in 5.0 innings.

North Texas took a 4-0 lead in the 1st inning. Mariza Martinez and Mallory Cantler started things off with back-to-back singles to right field before Rebecca Waters hit a RBI single to centerfield, driving in Martinez. The next batter, designated player Taylor Johnston, doubled off the wall in right field to drive in two runs.

Two batters later, Renae Bromley hit a RBI single to center field to round out the scoring for the Mean Green.

The home team added two more runs in the next inning before widening the Blue Raider deficit with six runs in the 3rd inning to make it 10-0 in favor of North Texas.

Middle Tennessee pulled two runs back in the top of the 4th inning. Corrie Abel started things off by bashing a ball to the warning track in centerfield which was bobbled by Martinez, allowing Abel to advance to third base. Abel scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 10-1.

Justine Cerda, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI in the first game of the doubleheader, singled through the right side and Whitney Darlington reached on an error by shortstop Katya Muller to put two runners on base.

Whittney Padgett doubled home Cerda with a shot to the gap in left field for MT's second run of the ballgame.

North Texas scored another run in the bottom of the inning before the Blue Raiders scored two more in the top of the 5th to cut the lead to 13-4. Cline reached on a fielders choice and Katie Mielke smacked a single to left field before Abel walked to load the bases.

Martha Davis hit a RBI double left-center field, scoring Cline and Mielke.

The Blue Raiders were unable to further cut the deficit as they fell 13-4 on run rule. Middle Tennessee lost for just their second time in eight games, there best such streak of the season.

The series concludes at Lovelace Stadium on Sunday at 1 PM. Follow the action live by selecting the appropriate links on GoBlueRaiders.com.

Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter @MTAthletics for continued updates.