The North Texas dugout cheered from the first pitch on Sunday.

They had something to cheer about at the end, too, beating the Lady Toppers 9-7 in 10 innings at the WKU Softball Complex.

Western didn’t sit quietly.

It took them five innings to warm the vocal chords and the bats.

After the bottom of the sixth inning, coach Rachel Lawson told her team, “Good inning,” as the Lady Toppers transitioned to defense.

Good may have been an understatement.

Down 7-2, Western sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning and scored four runs before the Mean Green could record an out. Sophomore second baseman Terri Ellingsworth lead the charge with two RBIs in the inning.

“It takes the right pitch to hit, and she gave it to me,” Ellingsworth said.

Western has outscored its opponents 52-43 in the sixth and seventh innings.

“We’re a tough team,” Lawson said. “We’re in a rhythm right now; we know how to win softball games. I think they settled down and chipped away at the score.”

Senior Renikka Toliver would have been the tying run, as she tried to score on a sophomore right-fielder Sam Cronk bunt. Toliver slid head-first into home only to have her shoulders greeted by the shin guards of North Texas catcher Christen Jonse. Tolliver had to be helped off the field.

Freshman catcher Rachelle Boucher’s run tied the game at seven when senior left-fielder Alana Towns reached on one of six errors by North Texas.

“Errors cost us quite a bit, and even some that didn’t go down as errors but were a lack of communication,” North Texas coach Kelly Burns said.

Western looked as if they would finish the Mean Green off in regulation after freshman designated player Lindsay Antone led off with a double down the left field line in the seventh inning. Antone was left stranded on third, though.

The game was decided in the10th inning because of the Sun Belt implemented international tiebreaker, which places a runner on second base before the inning begins.

Lawson said she is not a fan of the rule and believes the game shouldn’t be altered.

North Texas got the early lead after third baseman Susan Waters hit a two-run home run in the first and another two-run home run in the third.

Sophomore pitcher Jennifer Kempf lasted three and two-thirds innings, giving up five earned runs on six hits.

It was just the second time in 27 starts this season that Kempf did not throw a complete game.

Sophomore pitcher Ryan Rogge held North Texas to two runs in six and one-third innings of relief.

Antone, Ashley Contreras and Ellingsworth all had a two-hit game.

Sun Belt honors Virginia Tech

Sun Belt Conference commissioner Wright Waters announced the baseball and softball teams would wear the “VT” decal on their batting helmets the rest of the season. Sophomore third baseman Rebecca Horesky is from Woodbridge, Va.

“It’s a shame what happened, but all my friends are okay and safe,” Horesky said.

Reach Andrew Robinson at sports@wkuherald.com.