ARLINGTON – The UT Arlington softball team prepares for its first midweek contest of the season at North Texas before hosting its second and final home tournament at Allan Saxe Field.
 
First, UTA will face the Mean Green of North Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 28 and immediately turn around and play in the four-day annual 5th Boerner Invitational.

The Boerner Invitational - named in honor of Melissa Boerner, a former UTA softball captain who was killed by a drunk driver the day before her senior year began in 1998 - is to help raise awareness to the importance of responsible drinking.
 
GAME INFO
OPPONENT: North Texas
WHEN: February 28 | 6 p.m.
WHERE: Denton, Texas | Lovelace Stadium | Live Stats
 
SERIES HISTORY
North Texas: UNT leads, 35-24
Last 5 Meetings:
Mar. 29, 2023: W, 3-2 | Arlington, Texas
Feb. 17, 2023: L, 8-0 (5) | Celina, Texas
April 14, 2021: L, 1-0 | Arlington, Texas
Mar. 17, 2021: L, 5-4 | Denton, Texas
Mar. 7, 2021: W, 2-0 | Arlington, Texas

UTA NOTES (3-12)

• The Mavs spent their weekend in Fayetteville, Arkansas after competing in No. 14 Arkansas' Razorback Invitational.
• Fifth year Camille Corona earned WAC Player of the Week honors after recording a stellar performance at the plate with a .625 batting average (10-16). Out of the five games played, the lefty tabbed four multi-hit efforts as one of them came from a 2-3 outing against the ranked Razorbacks (Feb. 23).
• Currently, Corona leads UTA with a .432 batting average and 16 hits. In WAC play alone, the standout transfer holds the fourth-best BA and the eighth-best on-base percentage of .450.
• Veteran Lindsey Franklin is among the topmost consistent players in head coach Kara Dill's lineup as she has started in all 15 games for the Mavs with the second-best batting average (.333), hits (14) while leading in RBI (11) and doubles (3).
• Junior Jessica Adams and senior Gracie Bumpurs have spent the same amount of time in the circle for UTA with 24.2 innings pitched. Bumpurs currently leads the staff with 13 strike outs.
• The Mavericks have tossed two complete games with both coming from Adams against ULM (Feb. 10) and Jade Moreno against DePaul (Feb. 18).

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | NORTH TEXAS (7-7)

• The Mean Green opened the 2024 season in Tucson to compete in No. 23 Arizona's Candrea Classic (Feb. 9-11) as they picked up two wins over Utah Tech (7-0) and Lipscomb (12-2).
• UNT coming off its very own UNT Invite as the squad defeated New Mexico, twice, along with Minnesota and Stephen F. Austin.
• Junior Cierra Simon leads the pack offensively with a batting average of .286, making 13 starts. Simon is currently tied with the most hits on the team with eight and leads with a .519 slugging percentage.
• Sophomore Tatum Sparks has knocked seven RBI and two home runs – most of the Mean Green.
• In the circle, senior McKenzie Wagoner paces the pitching rotation with 37 innings pitched and a 2.65 ERA. So far this year, Wagoner has tabbed three wins, making nine appearances and five starts.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
TOURNAMENT: 5th Boerner Invitational
OPPONENTS: Texas A&M – CC, Incarnate Word, Grambling State, UTSA
WHEN: February 29 – March 3
WHERE: Arlington, Texas | Allan Saxe Field
Game 1 vs. Texas A&M – CC, Feb. 29 @ 3:30 PM | Watch | Live Stats
Game 2 vs. Texas A&M – CC, Feb. 29 @ 6 PM | Watch | Live Stats
Game 3 vs. Incarnate Word, Mar. 1 @ 2 PM | Watch | Live Stats
Game 4 vs. Grambling State, Mar. 1 @ 4:30 PM | Watch | Live Stats
Game 5 vs. UTSA, Mar. 2 @ 4:30 PM | Watch | Live Stats
Game 6 vs. Incarnate Word, Mar. 3 @ 12:30 PM | Watch | Live Stats
 
SERIES HISTORY
Texas A&M – Corpus Christi: TAMUCC leads, 16-15
Last 5 Meetings:
Feb. 12, 2022: L, 2-0 (8) | College Station, Texas
Mar. 4, 2021: L, 5-4 | Arlington, Texas
Feb. 27, 2021: L, 12-8 | San Antonio, Texas
Feb. 26, 2021: W, 9-7 | San Antonio, Texas
Mar. 24, 2012: W, 2-0 | Arlington, Texas
 
SERIES HISTORY
Incarnate Word: UTA leads, 8-0
Last 5 Meetings:
Mar. 15, 2022: W, 11-5 | San Antonio, Texas
Mar. 14, 2018: W, 9-0 (5) | Arlington, Texas
Mar. 4, 2017: W, 11-3 (5) | Arlington, Texas
Mar. 3, 2017: W, 7-1 | Arlington, Texas
Feb/ 13, 2015: W, 16-2 | Arlington, Texas
 
SERIES HISTORY
Grambling State: UTA leads, 3-0
Last 3 Meetings:
Mar. 16, 2012: W, 14-0 | Grambling, LA
Feb. 19, 1999: W, 9-0 | Arlington, Texas
Feb. 19, 1999: W, 15-0 | Arlington, Texas
 
SERIES HISTORY
UTSA: UTSA leads, 43-35
Last 5 Meetings:
Feb. 23, 2023: W, 4-3 | San Marcos, Texas
Mar. 26, 2021: W, 12-1 | Austin, Texas
Feb. 27, 2021: L, 9-1 | San Antonio, Texas
Feb. 23, 2020: L, 8-7 | Arlington, Texas
Feb. 21, 2020: L, 8-5 | Arlington, Texas

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | TEXAS A&M – CC (10-3)

• With a 10-3 start to the season, the Islanders' only losses were to Jackson State (9-8), Louisiana Tech (4-1) and UT Chattanooga (4-2).
• Senior outfielder Alina Jasso has played in all 13 games for Texas A&M – CC with a team-high .385 batting average. Jasso is one of five players who currently hold a .300 average or higher. In addition, the senior leads in hits (15), doubles (6) and walks (7).
• Fellow senior Taniece Tyson has logged three long balls so far this season with the best slugging percentage on the team (.647). Tyson sits on the fourth-best batting average on the team with a .324 average.
• Behind a .341 batting average, utility player Kimane Rogron leads in RBI (12), triples (2) and hits (14).
• The Islanders' five-person pitching staff sits on a low 1.55 ERA with Hawaii native Primrose Aholelei at a 1.53 ERA. Aholelei has spent the most time in the circle among the staff with over 50 innings pitched, five complete games and 71 strike outs.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | INCARNATE WORD (9-1)

• The Cardinals tabbed an 0-5 opening weekend at home before their second preseason tournament was canceled in Baton Rouge.
• UIW is coming off a 4-1 outing at Campbell's Camel Stampede with its only loss of the season coming from the Camels.
• As a team, the Cardinals are batting .326 with 95 hits and 59 runs scored.
• Leading offensively is infielder Ryleigh Mata as she sits on a .417 batting average with a .900 OPS.
• Sophomore Jillian Gutierrez holds a team-best 11 RBI with the second-best hits (13), fitting among the top-5 in batting average (.333).
• Across 14 innings pitched, freshman Larissa Jacquez has had a strong start to the 2024 season as she holds a 1.00 ERA. Jacquez leads with 20 strike outs while only allowing two earned runs.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | GRAMBLING STATE (7-5)

• Grambling State is fresh off the HBCU Celebration Classic with two wins over Florida A&M (6-1) and Alabama A&M (6-0).
• As a whole, the Tigers are batting .244 with freshman Kamryn Broussard leading the way with a .381 batting average, three doubles, four RBI and a .524 slugging percentage.
• The outfielder also shares a team-high of eight hits with Katelynn Walls and Z'Natria Evans.
• Senior pitcher Dacia Richards has tossed three complete games against Jackson State (Feb. 9), Fort Valley State (Feb. 17) and Florida A&M (Feb. 22) and sits on a 1.35 ERA,

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | UTSA (4-12)

•  The Roadrunners are off to a rough start as the squad sits on an overall record of 4-12 with the four wins coming from Northwestern State (5-1), Massachusetts (3-2) and St. Thomas, twice (12-8, 6-5).
• UTSA has played in the Texas State Tournament, Houston Classic and Texas A&M Invitational.
• Junior bats Jaylen Prichard paces the Roadrunner offense with a .324 average at the plate with 12 hits and a .490 on-base percentage.
• Senior Jamie Gilbert leads the pitching rotation with 46.2 innings pitched and 43 strike outs. So far this season, Gilbert has thrown four complete games with a 4.20 ERA.

ON DECK
The Mavericks will be back on the field with a midweek game at No. 2 Texas on Wednesday, Mar. 6 from McCombs Field at 6 p.m.
 
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