After a series win against California Baptist University, the Southern Utah University Softball team headed to Arizona for a matchup against Grand Canyon University. After a tough battle for the T-birds this weekend, they weren’t able to take home a win, falling short in all three games.
Southern Utah is now 9-21 in overall play and 4-7 in Western Athletic Conference play, ranking seventh in WAC standings. Grand Canyon is now 29-6 in overall, and 8-2 in conference play, with the number one seed in the WAC.
Game one
The Thunderbirds started off strong in the first game of three against the Lopes. SUU jumped to a 3-0 lead at the top of the first inning. With two runners on base, Amyah Boostedt had a great hit resulting in two players scoring. Kassidy Munoz also had a baserunning play that kept Southern Utah in the lead.
Grand Canyon came back in the bottom half with strong hits and aggressive base running to take the lead 4-3. However, Southern Utah was determined to keep up their momentum and were playing hard on the plate and in the field.
SUU had some great hits, Tawnie Mozeris and Arianna Ramirez contributed greatly to the Thunderbird offense. Michaella Salvatierra had two trips to base in addition to a stolen base.
The T-birds provided great defense in the middle innings and kept GCU from scoring until the Lopes hit an impressive late double home run and bridged the gap even further. Southern Utah wasn’t able to score again, falling short 6-3.
Game two
SUU came into the second game of this double-header hopeful to get a win against GCU. The Lopes scored first in the first inning, but were not able to again until the fourth. As hard as Southern Utah pushed, they weren’t able to score against this Grand Canyon defense.
The Thunderbirds had runners on several innings, Laurie Cooke and Munoz picked up hits early, but were unable to complete a run. SUU left five runners on base as they were unable to find a hit to send the runners home.
Although the Southern Utah offense wasn’t able to score, their defense was strong and held off GCU during the middle innings. Delaney Baker pitched a great two innings, and limited the Lopes to one run.
Southern Utah wasn’t able to compete against the GCU defense in this game, but had a good defense of their own, limiting the Lopes to only scoring four points. The second game ended 0-4.
Game three
After a tough loss the night before, Southern Utah was prepared to come out and give it their all in the final game of the series. After a slow start to the game, SUU was able to score first in the second inning.
Despite SUU’s early lead, Grand Canyon quickly made a lead of their own as they scored 8 runs in the second and third inning. After an impressive hit by Aubrie Burgos, SUU started to bridge the gap making the score 2-8.
Salvatierra also had a great hit that allowed SUU to complete two runs and bring the Thunderbirds 4-8 at the top of the fourth.
Despite Southern Utah’s tries to keep GCU from scoring, they weren’t able to hold off the Lopes’ offense and the game ended 13-4 in the fifth inning.
What’s next?
Southern Utah will host their in-state rivals Utah Tech University starting on Friday, April 11, at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. followed by a third game on Saturday, April 12, at noon.
These games will take place on the Kathryn Berg Field in Cedar City and can also be streamed on ESPN+.
Author: Lexie Nelson
Photographer: SUU Athletics
Editor: Jack Paul
