DENTON, Texas - Two innings made the difference on Wednesday night as defensive miscues doomed the Texans as Tarleton State (14-11, 1-2 WAC) fell to North Texas (18-7, 1-2 AMERICAN) 4-0 at Lovelace Stadium.
 
The first three innings saw both teams swap goose eggs before the Mean Green put up a three-spot in the bottom of the fourth.
 
North Texas got their first run on the board as Rylee Nicholson singled and then was thrown out at second allowing Cierra Simon to advance to third and then scored on the throw to make it 1-0. Blayze McNemar then singled to second and advanced on the throw as Kailyn Bearpaw moved to second, advancing on the throw while Ausha Moore scored pushing it to 2-0 still in the fourth. The Green and Whites third run came as Taylor Platt singled down the first base line on a 2-1 count moving McNemar to third and driving in Bearpaw.
 
After the three-spot from North Texas, the fifth inning was once again quiet for both sides before the home team added on one more in the sixth.
 
In the top of the sixth inning, Austin Germain singled to right center breaking up the no-hitter hopes of the Mean Green.
 
Another miscue in the bottom of the sixth allowed North Texas to make it a 4-0 lead as Platt and McNemar both advanced a bag while Caydance Gaddis scored on a wild pitch to score the fourth and final run for the Green and White.
 
For the Texans, head coach Mark Cumpian used a trio of arms in Sadie Beck, Gracie Riney and Alexa Rehmeier. Beck (L, 1-1) earned the start and went 3.2 IP as she gave up three runs (all earned) on five hits while walking three. Riney went 1.1 IP as she gave up one run (earned) on two hits while also walking one. Rehmeier went the final inning as she allowed no runs on no hits and walked two.
 
For the Mean Green, Skylar Savage (W, 8-3) earned the start and went six innings as she gave up just one hit while she walked three and struck out seven. Anneca Anderson tossed the final inning as she gave up no runs on no hits and struck out one.
 
Tarleton State has a quick turnaround as they are set to host UT-Arlington Friday-Saturday for their conference home opener at the Tarleton State Softball Complex. Game 1 is set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on Friday followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at 1/3:30 p.m. The entire series will air live on the wavelengths of ESPN+ and live stats will be available as well. Tickets are also available for the three-game series and can be found here.
 
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