Coming off two straight wins, the Southern Utah University softball team will play the Trailblazers of Utah Tech University and the Aggies of Utah State University. On Tuesday, April 9, they will head to St. George for a double header with the Trailblazers and will host the Aggies the following day.
Utah Tech
The Trailblazers are sitting at 12-24 on the season with a 5-7 Western Athletic Conference record. They have a team batting average of .246 and a team earned run average of 6.22.
Infielders Laura Lockard and Carly Eldredge are the team’s batting leaders. They hit .316 and .315, respectively, and have 20 and 22 runs batted in on the season. Rachel Campbell is their biggest bat, though, matching Eldredge’s RBI total of 22 with her seven home runs.
The Utah Tech pitching staff doesn’t have much to brag about other than Attlyn Johnston’s number of strikeouts. Her 64 total Ks place her in the top five in the WAC. She holds a 5.42 ERA and a .316 batting average against, making her the top Trailblazer in both categories. Tyler Denhart is their other primary starter, and though her 6.84 depicts her struggles, she has two complete-game shutouts under her belt.
In their last series, they fell to Seattle University two games to one.
Utah State
USU finds themselves in the middle of the Mountain West Conference standings with their 21-18 overall record and 5-8 conference record. Their team batting average sits at .290, and their ERA is 3.97.
Grace Matej leads the team with her .438 average. While this would put her in the top five in the Mountain West, since she has played 74% of the team’s games, she falls just short of the 75% requirement to be considered. Still, she is the Aggies’ RBI leader with 25 and is second in hits with 39. Ariel Fifita, who bats .357, has a team-leading 41 hits.
Denay Smith, Jessica Stewart and Katie Zuniga do the most work for the Aggie pitching rotation and all boast sub-4 ERAs. Stewart, despite not having the team’s best ERA, is likely the best arm on the roster. She has struck out 51 batters through 63.1 innings pitched while only allowing opponents to hit .291 against her.
Utah State was swept this past weekend by conference opponent Fresno State University and will look to get back on their feet.
Southern Utah
After a hot start to the season, the Thunderbirds have cooled off in recent weeks. At 14-18 overall and 4-8 in WAC play, they are still having one of the program’s best seasons in recent memory. They have a .265 team batting average and a 4.72 team ERA.
Karmyna Becerra and Ariyana Miranda have been the top offensive contributors all season. They rank either first or second on the team in terms of batting average, hits, runs scored, RBIs and home runs, among other categories. While hitting .343, Becerra has brought in 16 runs on 37 hits, including six home runs. Miranda has been among the top home run hitters in the WAC for the majority of the season. She has gone yard eight times to lead the Thunderbirds, propelling her RBI total to 21.
Despite missing a handful of games due to injury, Keimon Winston returned to the mound last week. She has pitched just 38.1 innings due to missed time, but she has the best ERA and batting average against for Southern Utah at 3.62 and .294. Freshman Emily Delgado has stood out in her debut season, starting a team-leading 12 games and throwing 93.2 innings. She has had two complete-game shutouts during that time. Delgado leads the Thunderbirds and ranks among the top WAC pitchers in strikeouts with 66, over half as many as the entire Southern Utah roster last year.
SUU is 11-22 all-time against Utah Tech and 11-6 against Utah State.
Author: Anden Garfield
Photographer: Anden Garfield
sports@suunews.net
