This weekend, the Southern Utah University softball team is heading to Las Vegas to compete in the UNLV Classic tournament, which will take place Feb. 23-26. The Thunderbirds are coming off a 2-3 weekend in San Diego. Competitors in the upcoming tournament are Santa Clara University, the UNLV and the University of Tulsa.
University of Tulsa
The Thunderbirds will meet with the University of Tulsa once on Friday at 1:30 p.m. and again on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. The Golden Hurricanes are 5-4 this season and competed last weekend in the Texas State University Tournament in San Marcos.
MacKenzie Denson has been the second batter in the Golden Hurricane lineup in every game of the season and has proved to be the most consistent hitter for UT. Denson has a .433 batting average and also leads her team with a .985 on-base plus slugging percentage.
On the mound, Maura Moore has a 6.30 earned run average and has thrown 20 innings for the Golden Hurricanes. Kylee Nash has struck out 11 of the 49 batters that she has seen, earning an ERA of 2.77.
The Golden Hurricanes have a solid batting lineup with an average of .292, and their top three batters are hitting over .300. Their pitching staff has an overall ERA of 4.17, which is the fifth highest in the American Athletic Conference.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
The Thunderbirds and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas will go head to head on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. UNLV had a 2-3 outcome in their Desert Classic Tournament last weekend and will be hosting the upcoming Rebel Classic.
Maddie Schmidt is killing the ball for the Rebels with a .458 batting average and a 1.075 OPS. Alyssa Trejo has also been a huge bat in the lineup, securing 11 of the team’s runs batted in along with three homeruns this season.
In the circle, Alanna Thiede has been lights out with a 1.64 ERA, winning all three games she’s thrown for the Rebels. She has 21 strikeouts on the season and has pitched at least five more innings than the rest of the pitching staff.
The Rebels have a hot lineup with the highest team batting average in the Mountain West Conference at .341. The pitching staff has held it down, securing fourth in the conference with an ERA of 2.86.
Santa Clara University
SUU and Santa Clara University will meet on Friday at 11:30 a.m. and on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. SCU is coming off a long weekend of games, having competed in the Silicon Valley Classic where they delayed a Saturday game to Sunday, keeping them there an extra day. The Broncos were 2-3 last weekend.
At the plate, Cairah Curran is leading her team with a .400 batting average and has been consistently in the top three of the Broncos’ batting lineup. Morgan Salmon has hit three home runs this season, leading her team with a .983 OPS.
Hannah Edwards has thrown 18.1 innings and has nine strikeouts out of her 80 at-bats thrown. She has an ERA of 4.91 and has had two home runs hit off her. Avery Seva is right behind her with an ERA of 4.08, having thrown 17.2 innings for the Broncos.
Each member of the Broncos’ pitching rotation has an ERA of 4.16, and they have a team batting average of .235. Currently, they sit in second place in the West Coast Conference.
Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University traveled to the Toreros Classic last weekend in San Diego and won two out of their five games.
The hitting lineup for the Thunderbirds is strong with over 55% of their hitters batting over .300. Karmyna Becerra and Ariyana Miranda have made the most impact for the Thunderbirds this year. Becerra is leading her team with a batting average of .382 and has scored seven times this season. Becerra only has three strikeouts on the season.
Miranda is a dominant power hitter in the lineup with a batting average of .346 and an OPS of 1.116. She has hit three home runs this season and has nine runs batted in.
Emily Delgado and Keimon Winston have been the top two in the circle for the Thunderbirds. Delgado has an ERA of 2.47, and Winston has a 3.41. The two have racked up 35 of the pitching staff’s 38 strikeouts. Winston has thrown 24.2 innings, while Delgado has thrown 22.2.
The Thunderbirds compete in the Western Athletic Conference and are currently tied for third in conference standings.
Author: Maggie Whipple
Photographer: Anden Garfield
Editor: Anden Garfield
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