Southern Utah softball traveled to San Diego to play in the 30th Campbell-Cartier Classic. The Thunderbirds faced a tough weekend schedule against in-state rival Brigham Young University, California State Fullerton and the hosting team, San Diego State University .
The Thunderbirds opened the weekend Friday, Feb. 14 against BYU. SUU finished with a total of eight hits, but errors early in the game affected the outcome and the Thunderbirds lost 11-2. Brooke Brown and Skyler Ball both went 2-for-3 for the game, and Makall Whetten hit her first home run of the season.
Friday night they played the host Aztecs. Kamryn Grover pitched 3.1 innings in relief and only gave up two hits and no runs to the Aztecs. Whetten hit her second home run of the day, which was a three-run homerun. The Thunderbirds scored all of their runs in the fourth inning. However, the Thunderbirds couldn’t score another run late in the game and lost 5-4 to the Aztecs.
On Saturday, the Thunderbirds played their third game against CSU Fullerton. The Thunderbirds outhit the Titans, but because of errors early in the game, they lost 7-4. Brown and Ball hit 2-for-3 again, and Samantha Guerra went 2-for-4 in the loss for the Thunderbirds.
In the last game for the Thunderbirds, they faced the hosting Aztecs once again. However, the Thunderbirds only had three hits and lost 10-0 in five innings due to run rule.
Overall, junior Brooke Brown went 5-for-9 (.556) with a homerun, eight total bases and three walks. Junior Skyler Ball went 4-for-11 (.364) with one run scored. Sophomore Makall Whetten hit two homeruns with a total of four RBIs and two runs scored. Lastly, Junior Koryne Coddington threw 10.1 innings only giving up five earned runs and striking out nine, setting a season high.
Although the Thunderbirds came up short, coach Don Don Williams still believes her team has a bright future.
“I am so proud of my team. Even though they are not getting the outcome they want they choose to respond with their best,” Williams stated via twitter. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. At the end of the day, what’s better than your best!”
The Thunderbirds will take the field Feb. 28 through March 1 as they head to Arizona State University for the Sun Devil Classic.
Stay connected and up to date with Southern Utah Softball by following @SUUSoftball on Twitter and Instagram.
Story by: Skyler Ball
Skylerball@suumail.net
Photo courtesy of SUU Athletics
