In their third tournament of the year, the Southern Utah University softball team had a bit of a tough time. They lost four of their five games over the weekend to drop their record to 7-8. Despite the losing record, the Thunderbirds already have more wins than they did last season, and tournament play still isn’t over.
Game 1
Their opening game on Friday afternoon came against the Santa Clara University Broncos. Southern Utah was shut out 6-0 behind a complete-game performance from Bronco pitcher Hannah Edwards. She struck out seven throughout her seven innings pitched and allowed just three total hits.
The Santa Clara offense was nothing to scoff at, either. Juniors Morgan Salmon and Abigail Charpentier combined for every Bronco run batted in, while Cairah Curran reached base on all four of her plate appearances.
SUU’s Keimon Winston started on the rubber and tossed three scoreless innings before Delaney Baker was brought in for relief. Despite allowing eight baserunners, Winston struck out five Broncos while on the mound. All six Santa Clara runs, five earned and one unearned, came during Baker’s appearance, giving her the loss.
Game 2
The Thunderbirds refused to go winless on the first day of competition. They came out ready to play against the University of Tulsa and closed Friday with an 8-4 victory after a seventh-inning attack.
Tulsa jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before allowing SUU to tie it. They regained the lead in the sixth inning but gave it up almost immediately. As the designated visiting team, the Thunderbirds posted a five-run inning in the bottom of the seventh and held the Golden Hurricane scoreless in the final frame.
Freshman pitcher Emily Delgado got the nod as the starter for Southern Utah. In her five and two-thirds innings pitched, she struck out five Golden Hurricane players but gave up all four of their runs. Shelby Basso came in to close out the last 1.1 innings of the game and gave up no runs even though she let three hitters reach base. She also earned the win, moving her win-loss to 1-0.
Tulsa spread the action between three different pitchers, and none of them gave up fewer than two runs. After entering in the sixth inning and heading into the seventh, Kylee Nash gave up the go-ahead run and was given the loss.
Even as a pitcher, Basso brought two runs around for the Thunderbirds while scoring one herself. Karmyna Becerra and Ariyana Miranda each went 2-for-4 and contributed one and two RBIs, respectively. Both of Miranda’s RBIs came from a home run to left field.
Game 3
SUU opened Saturday with a rematch against Tulsa. This time, the Golden Hurricane offense came alive to put the Thunderbirds away 15-5 in the five-inning game.
Tulsa carried a 7-0 lead through two innings before letting the Thunderbirds get on the board. The Golden Hurricane scored in all five innings and outhit SUU 17-7.
Nash started on the mound this time and gave up just one run and two hits to earn her second victory of the season.
Winston, Basso and Delgado split pitching duties for Southern Utah, each giving up five runs.
Imani Edwards and Claira Skaggs led the Golden Hurricane in RBIs with three each, and Edwards went 3-for-3 while drawing a walk and scoring two runs herself. Kennedy Cramer was also a big bat for Tulsa after she went 2-for-3 with a two-run shot.
Miranda Lopez was one of the few highlights of the game for the Thunderbirds. She brought two runs across and drew a walk while going 2-for-2.
Game 4
The Saturday afternoon game saw the Thunderbirds fall to the host of the tournament, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The Rebels defeated Southern Utah 10-2 in another five-inning game.
The Thunderbirds put up a run in the first frame and carried the 1-0 lead into the fourth. The UNLV offense woke up and finally answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Southern Utah scored once more in the top of the fifth, but they gave up six runs in the second half of the inning to activate the mercy rule and bring the game to an end.
Baker pitched 3.1 innings before giving up the four runs in the fourth inning. Delgado came in to finish but allowed the other six.
Ellie Zellien pitched the complete game for the rebels, striking out three batters and walking none.
Sophomore Emily Gonzalez contributed the Thunderbirds’ only two RBIs on two of her four hits of the weekend.
Jesse Farrell was the standout for UNLV. She started the Rebels’ scoring with a three-run blast to left field and went 3-for-3 on the day. Ariana Martinez also had three RBIs and crossed the plate for the final run of the game.
Game 5
SUU’s sole Sunday matchup may have been their most interesting game of the weekend. Though it ended in defeat, an impressive bottom of the seventh sent it to extra innings.
They took on Santa Clara again only to fall 13-8, but they still had a strong offensive performance. The Thunderbirds landed the first punch in the bottom of the opening inning with two solo shots by Becerra and Lopez. The Broncos posted a four-run third, but SUU answered right back by tying the score in the bottom of the inning. They took the lead again in the fourth but only by one run.
After a scoreless fifth, Santa Clara came in with a little bit of small ball when Hazyl Gray reached on a bunt and brought two runs across. They scored once more in the sixth and put another insurance run up in the seventh, hoping to put the game away in the bottom of the inning.
Then, the unexpected happened.
Gonzalez hit a two-run shot to put the Thunderbirds within one run, and two pitches later, Miranda went yard, as well. With a tied score, the teams headed into the eighth inning. Unfortunately for Southern Utah, Santa Clara posted a five-run frame and held them scoreless in the final half inning.
Four Bronco pitchers touched the rubber, and after the game was tied in the seventh, Avery Seva entered the game and earned the victory. Delgado pitched the first 5.2 innings for SUU and struck out four batters, but she also gave up the first four runs. Baker came in and allowed the last nine, being assigned the loss.
Bailey McLaughlin led Santa Clara with four RBIs, going 3-for-5 in the game. Curran and Gray both provided three hits and two RBIs to help the Bronco offense.
With Miranda’s two home runs and Gonzalez’ three RBIs, they nearly led the Thunderbirds to an unexpected victory.
Next up
Starting March 1, Southern Utah will compete in the University of California Riverside Tournament where they will take on UC Riverside and the University of Nevada.
Author: Anden Garfield
Photographer: Anden Garfield
sports@suunews.net
