The Southern Utah University softball team snapped their eight-game losing streak with a series win against the Abilene Christian University Wildcats two games to one on April 5 and 6.
Game 1
Thunderbird Emily Delgado opened up the game on the mound and threw over four innings until Grace Owen came in for relief in the fifth. She pitched until the Wildcats secured three insurance runs in the sixth, and Shelby Basso then swapped in to finish the game.
Lina Russo threw most of the game for Abilene Christian until Ella Beeman came in to put down the final three batters.
ACU had a hot start offensively, scoring four runs in the first inning by stringing hits together and taking advantage of Thunderbird errors. The next two innings were scoreless for both teams.
In the fourth inning, ACU had a couple of big hits by Skylar Padgett and Kaydee Bennett that secured runs five and six.
Karmyna Becerra answered the call in the bottom of the fourth inning when she led off the inning with a home run for Southern Utah. Arianna Ramirez also had a two-run shot in the sixth, followed by Kassidy Munoz’s triple, which started to chip away at the Wildcats’ lead.
Despite the Thunderbirds’ rally, ACU scored seven runs between the fifth and seventh innings, making the final score 13-5.
Game 2
The teams were only on the diamond for five innings, making this game short and sweet.
Keimon Winston and Delaney Baker held it down in the circle for the Thunderbirds. Winston allowed three runs to score in four innings, and when Baker stepped in for relief, she finished the game without allowing a run to cross the plate.
Talia Nielsen and Riley White took the mound in game two, and neither could shut down the Thunderbirds’ offensive game.
The Thunderbirds started hot at the plate with another lead-off home run by Ramirez, which was followed by a string of hits and an RBI single by Miranda Lopez. Multiple big hits in the second inning let three more runs score for SUU.
The Wildcats started to battle back from the five-run deficit in the third inning after back-to-back home runs by Avery Miloch and Sydney Kaiser, shifting the score to a close 5-3.
However, the Thunderbirds blew the game open in the fourth inning when their lineup put nine runs on the board. Ramirez, Miranda, Emily Gonzalez and Becerra secured all RBIs in the inning.
Game 3
In the third game, Delgado, Winston and Baker returned to the mound for the Thunderbirds, fighting to earn the series win. Winston started the game by throwing the first two innings. Delgado threw the next three before Baker came in to finish up the last inning.
Russo and Beeman threw the majority of the innings for the Wildcats.
Heading into the second inning, the Thunderbirds were at a three-run deficit until Miranda reached base on a triple to score Kassidy Munoz.
In the fourth, SUU took the lead after an inning of huge hits. Becerra stepped up for another home run to start the rally, while Basso had a clutch three-run homer in the fourth that scored Lopez and Munoz.
The Thunderbirds put up their insurance runs in the fourth inning when Munoz and Lopez both had an RBI.
The remainder of the game was scoreless for SUU, but they left the fourth inning with a 10-4 lead.
ACU tried to battle back in the fifth inning with doubles from Sammie Shelander and White scoring two more runs. Despite the rally, the Wildcats were unable to come back from the deficit, and the final score was 10-6 in favor of Southern Utah.
Coming up
On Tuesday, April 9, the Thunderbirds will head down to St. George to play a double header against Utah Tech University at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. They will return home to play their rescheduled Utah State University game the following day at 1 p.m. at the Kathryn Berg Field.
Author: Maggie Whipple
Photographer: Anden Garfield
Editor: Anden Garfield
sports@suunews.net
