"Obviously, we knew who we were facing," head coach Amy Tudor said. "After watching the first game, we knew who we were getting for North Texas. Obviously, Hope Trautwein is a quality pitcher and did a great job for North Texas this entire season. But, I felt like our approach was different. I felt like our confidence was higher. We gave ourselves a chance to win the game and I felt like a lot of players stepped up. I felt like it was a full team victory."
WKU Softball moves to 30-13 overall on the season the two-win day and secured a spot in the program's first championship game since 2015. North Texas' season ends at 38-12 as the Red and White avenged Thursday's loss.
The Hilltoppers are the first C-USA Tournament host to advance to the championship game since Eastern Carolina did so in 2011.
Redshirt-freshman Brylee Hage went 5-for-6 across the wins while recording two doubles and scoring twice for the Hilltoppers. She now owns seven multi-hit outings across the 2021 campaign.
"I was really just trying to go up there – and if the first pitch was there – just try to hit the first pitch," shared Hage. "Because, if I let myself get down in the count I might start swinging at balls. So, just really trying to hit that first pitch."
WKU opened its day with a thrilling 3-2 win over Charlotte to end the 49ers' season. The Hilltoppers tallied runs in the top of the third, fifth and seventh innings before the Green and Gold struck for a pair in the bottom of the seventh.
Kennedy Sullivan worked 6.1 innings in the circle to earn the win before Shelby Nunn came in and locked down her third save of the season. Sullivan improved to 9-0 in pitching decisions this year. The duo allowed six Charlotte hits and one earned run while striking out five.
Hage went 3-for-3 in the Tops' first game of the day and scored what would end up being the winning run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Jordan Ridge.
Paige Carter would score WKU's other two runs in the game after getting on board with a base hit and walk.
Waiting to face the winner of the Charlotte-WKU game was the top-seeded Mean Green squad that fell to UAB in the day's opening game.
In round two against UNT, things were completely different for the Hilltoppers.
The designated player in game two, Sullivan struck for a solo home run in the third at bat of the game to give WKU a 1-0 lead that held until the bottom of the third. North Texas would take advantage of a pair of Hilltopper fielding errors in the frame to even the contest.
UNT took a 2-1 lead an inning later when the Mean Green struck for a solo home run – the squad's second and final hit of the game.
From there, Nunn and the Hilltopper defense retired 12-straight North Texas batters with the ball never leaving the infield. Maddie Bowlds would finish with 14 putouts at first base, a new individual best on the season.
North Texas' lead held until the top of the sixth when Carter drew a leadoff walk and scored all the way from first four pitches later when Ridge sent a triple down the right field line, tying the game at 2-2. Two batters later, Kendall Smith drove a ball to left field that allowed Ridge to score on a sacrifice fly for the Hilltopper lead.
In the top of the seventh, the bottom of the WKU order struck to three-straight singles – including a pinch-hit RBI knock from Princess Valencia that doubled the Hilltoppers lead.
Nunn and company retired to the field with the 4-2 lead in need of three outs in the bottom of the seventh. TJ Webster gloved a liner for the first out before Taylor Sanders handled back-to-back groundouts for the final two outs.
Nunn earned the complete-game win in the circle, improving to 11-4 with the two-hit showing against North Texas.
"It's very refreshing," Nunn opened of her second outing against UNT in as many days. "North Texas is an excellent team. They've got excellent offense and defense, and obviously Hope (Trautwein) is a very dominant pitcher in the conference. I think it was just bringing a new mindset. Coach Tudor had a talk with me before the game and she really just helped me clear my head. This game I really had to use my defense, and I knew they had my back. This win was a total team effort."
WKU finished with six hits off the C-USA Pitcher of the Year, Hope Trautwein and joined Texas and Iowa State as the only teams to score three or more runs off her this season.
"I think just focusing in on having those quality at-bats again," Ridge shared. "Hope (Trautwein), she's a great pitcher. She was the Pitcher of the Year in conference. Yesterday she was dominant against us, but today I think we were just trying to focus in on the pitches that we know we can hit, and not swinging at some of her rise balls and stuff like that. So, I think just focusing in on the pitches that we know we can hit and just having those quality at-bats really helped us today."
WKU will take on No. 2 seed UAB in Saturday's championship game. First pitch is slated for noon CT and the game will air on CBS Sports Network with Dave Ryan and Leah Secondo on the call.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
- Saturday, May 15 – Noon CT vs. [2] UAB| Livestats | CBS Sports Network
How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook /WKUSoftball
