The Southern Utah softball team continued play in the 2018 UNLV Sportco Kickoff Classic Saturday evening as they took on Creighton University and Utah Valley University under the lights.
Game One: SUU 1, Creighton 9
In what has become a trend so far this season, the Thunderbirds scored early against the Bluejays. They plated the first run of the game in the first inning as Kalei Watkins hit a two-out RBI double to left center to score Sarah Murphy from second after she reached on a single earlier in the inning.
The Bluejays tied things up in the second inning with a deep shot to left center making it 1-1 after two innings.
Southern Utah ran into trouble in the fourth inning, giving up three runs on just two hits. It continued in the fifth as three more Bluejays came across to score without a single hit in the inning.
The Thunderbirds could not get anything going offensively and Creighton was able to end the game in six innings after scoring two more runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 9-1 Bluejays.
Murphy finished 1-3 with a run scored and Watkins went 1-3 with the Thunderbirds’ only RBI of the game. Nicole Simonson’s regular hitting streak came to an end at 16 games as she finished the game 0-3.
Game Two: SUU 2, Utah Valley 8
UVU jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in game two. All of Southern Utah’s runs in came in the bottom of the third inning on RBI singles from Watkins and Taylei Williams. The freshmen were able to keep the Thunderbirds in the game for the time being, making it 3-2 Wolverines.
The Wolverines broke things open in the fourth when they loaded the bases and Caragh Morris hit a pinch hit grand slam over the fence in right field. Utah Valley ended up scoring five runs in that inning making it 8-2.
The Thunderbirds were able to hold the Wolverines scoreless over the next three innings, but were not able to score themselves, keeping the final score 8-2.
Williams finished the game 2-3 with an RBI, which made her 3-6 on the night.
The Thunderbirds will play one more game at the UNLV Sportco Kickoff Classic, Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Mountain time against host team UNLV.
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Story By
SUU Athletics Strategic Communications
