Friday, March 22
Denton, Texas
6:00 p.m.
Tulsa
at
North Texas
Hurricane Heads South to Face North Texas
3/21/2024 7:47:00 PM | Softball
TULSA, Okla. – After knocking off a top-10 Oklahoma State team on Tuesday and a rainout on Wednesday, the Golden Hurricane softball team will go on the road to face North Texas in an American Athletic Conference series this weekend.
The series will start Friday evening at 6 p.m. inside Lovelace Stadium. Saturday has a 2 p.m. first pitch time and Sunday will begin at noon. All three games will air on ESPN+. TU fans can subscribe to ESPN+ to watch Golden Hurricane basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball. ESPN+ is offered for $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year. To subscribe, fans can go to plus.espn.com. Fans will be able to access ESPN+ content only after subscribing.
The Hurricane (19-8, 5-1 AAC) and Mean Green (15-12, 5-1 AAC) have met 15 times prior to this weekend with TU leading the series 9-6. Tulsa has won three of the past five games, but the teams have only played four times since their one season as Conference USA co-members in 2014. UNT is one of the newcomers to The American.
Tulsa is coming off one of its biggest wins in recent memory, knocking off No. 4/6 Oklahoma State 3-0 in front of a sold-out Collins Family Softball Complex on Tuesday. It was TU's first win against a top-10 opponent since knocking off No. 6 Texas on the road in 2013. Maura Moore pitched a complete game shutout and allowed only four hits with three walks while striking out four. Claira Skaggs drove in a run on a pair of doubles.
Skaggs now ranks seventh in the nation for doubles after collecting her 12th in the win. Abby Jones (10) ranks 26th and Celeste Wood (8) is 85th. The Hurricane is batting .332 this season while holding opponents to .229. MacKenzie Denson didn't get a hit on Tuesday but is averaging a team-best .435 in the 2024 campaign. Imani Edwards had a pair of hits to improve to .409 this season, while Skaggs is at .392.
Head Coach Crissy Strimple also reached a milestone, collecting her best ranked win of her head coaching career while also reaching the century mark with her 100th win. Strimple is in her fifth season at the helm of the Golden Hurricane.
North Texas enters after a week with no midweek games. The Mean Green took two of three on the road at UTSA last weekend, dropping the series finale 4-2 after winning both games of a Saturday doubleheader. UNT is batting .259 through 27 games, led by Cierra Simon, who at .367 is the lone player hitting above .300. Mikayla Smith, batting .295, provides a pop at the plate with five home runs and 18 RBI, both team highs. She also has four doubles and a triple.
In the circle, MacKenzie Wagoner has a team-low 2.67 ERA in 70.2 innings of work, which paces the staff. Wagoner holds a 7-4 record with five complete games and three solo shutouts. She's struck out 45. In 48.2 innings, Mackenzie Childers has a team-best 64 strikeouts.
After the weekend series, the Golden Hurricane will not have a midweek game before hosting UAB for the next conference series. The games will play on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the Easter Weekend with all games airing on ESPN+.
The series will start Friday evening at 6 p.m. inside Lovelace Stadium. Saturday has a 2 p.m. first pitch time and Sunday will begin at noon. All three games will air on ESPN+. TU fans can subscribe to ESPN+ to watch Golden Hurricane basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball. ESPN+ is offered for $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year. To subscribe, fans can go to plus.espn.com. Fans will be able to access ESPN+ content only after subscribing.
The Hurricane (19-8, 5-1 AAC) and Mean Green (15-12, 5-1 AAC) have met 15 times prior to this weekend with TU leading the series 9-6. Tulsa has won three of the past five games, but the teams have only played four times since their one season as Conference USA co-members in 2014. UNT is one of the newcomers to The American.
Tulsa is coming off one of its biggest wins in recent memory, knocking off No. 4/6 Oklahoma State 3-0 in front of a sold-out Collins Family Softball Complex on Tuesday. It was TU's first win against a top-10 opponent since knocking off No. 6 Texas on the road in 2013. Maura Moore pitched a complete game shutout and allowed only four hits with three walks while striking out four. Claira Skaggs drove in a run on a pair of doubles.
Skaggs now ranks seventh in the nation for doubles after collecting her 12th in the win. Abby Jones (10) ranks 26th and Celeste Wood (8) is 85th. The Hurricane is batting .332 this season while holding opponents to .229. MacKenzie Denson didn't get a hit on Tuesday but is averaging a team-best .435 in the 2024 campaign. Imani Edwards had a pair of hits to improve to .409 this season, while Skaggs is at .392.
Head Coach Crissy Strimple also reached a milestone, collecting her best ranked win of her head coaching career while also reaching the century mark with her 100th win. Strimple is in her fifth season at the helm of the Golden Hurricane.
North Texas enters after a week with no midweek games. The Mean Green took two of three on the road at UTSA last weekend, dropping the series finale 4-2 after winning both games of a Saturday doubleheader. UNT is batting .259 through 27 games, led by Cierra Simon, who at .367 is the lone player hitting above .300. Mikayla Smith, batting .295, provides a pop at the plate with five home runs and 18 RBI, both team highs. She also has four doubles and a triple.
In the circle, MacKenzie Wagoner has a team-low 2.67 ERA in 70.2 innings of work, which paces the staff. Wagoner holds a 7-4 record with five complete games and three solo shutouts. She's struck out 45. In 48.2 innings, Mackenzie Childers has a team-best 64 strikeouts.
After the weekend series, the Golden Hurricane will not have a midweek game before hosting UAB for the next conference series. The games will play on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the Easter Weekend with all games airing on ESPN+.
Players Mentioned
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