FARMINGTON, Utah – The Big Sky Conference announced the members of the 2021 Big Sky Softball All-Conference teams Tuesday morning and Southern Utah senior Brooke Brown was named Top Newcomer of the Year. Brown also earned All-Conference First Team honors.
Josey White and Tyler Denhart also earned All-Conference honors from the Big Sky as White was named to the Second Team and Denhart was named Honorable Mention.
Brown, a transfer from Snow College, has hit 16 home runs so far this season, leading the Big Sky in the category and setting a new Southern Utah single-season home run record. She broke the previous record of 15 set by Lindi Kennedy in 2007. She also leads the Big Sky in slugging percentage (.782) and RBI (50).
The Thunderbird third baseman ranks second in the conference in total bases (104), fifth in hits (48), sixth in on-base percentage (.437), eighth in runs scored (32), and ninth in batting average (.361). Nationally, Brown ranks 17th in home runs and RBI and 42nd in slugging percentage.
White, a transfer from Minnesota, leads the conference in doubles (14), total bases (110) and hits (57). She is also second in RBI (45) and home runs (13), trailing only Brooke Brown, and third in batting average (.393) and slugging percentage (.774). If she can maintain that slugging percentage through the rest of the season, she will set a new Southern Utah single-season record.
Brown and White are both big contributors to a Southern Utah offense that leads the Big Sky in home runs (57), runs scored (243), RBI (235), and total bases (578).
Denhart pitched to the tune of a 5.75 ERA over 129.0 innings pitched this season. She is currently 8-13 with 47 strikeouts and three saves. During Big Sky play, the freshman was even better as she had a 4.25 ERA over 56.0 innings pitched, the seventh best number in the conference. She was named Big Sky Pitcher of the Week twice during the season, becoming the first Thunderbird to ever win the award twice and just the second to win it at all.
Find the full list of Big Sky Softball All-Conference honorees here.
The Thunderbirds will be competing at the Big Sky Softball Championship Tournament this week in Ogden, Utah from May 13-15.
Story and photo courtesy of SUU Athletics
