ST. GEORGE, Utah, Feb. 7 ? Loyola Marymount's Amy Charpentier singled to drive home Mia Sarah Cesena in the bottom of the 12th inning Thursday night, ending one of the longest games in Southern Utah softball history, as the Lions got past the Thunderbirds 3-2.
The loss to LMU came on the heels of a season-opening 4-1 defeat at the hands of Brigham Young University earlier in the day at the Red Desert Classic and dropped SUU to 0-2 on the young season.
Loyola scored runs in the fourth and fifth innings on a single by Priscilla Satete and a Kirsten Slouber double, but the Thunderbirds came back in the top of the sixth. With two outs and Stephanie DeJesus on third base and Norian James on second, Lindi Kennedy hit a ball past Cesena, the Lion shortstop, to bring home both runners and knot the score.
Although both teams had runners on third base in subsequent innings, including runners on second and third with no-outs in the 10th for LMU, neither team could push home the winning run until Cesena's unearned run in the 12th. Cesena had reached base on a single but advanced to second on a passed ball and to third on a wild pitch to get into position to score on the short single by Charpentier.
Melissa Dykema (1-0) threw three innings of one-hit relief for the Lions in picking up the win while Kristina Brooks (0-2) gave up five hits but no walks in six innings in relief.
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n the first game, Jessica Purcell staked the Cougars to a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the first inning, then Angeline Quiocho scored on a wild pitch in the fourth to give BYU a 2-0 lead. The Cougars picked up two more runs in the fifth after Emi Willing doubled in Kristin Delahoussaye and eventually scored herself on another wild pitch.
Southern Utah came back with one run in the seventh when Ali Daniels singled home DeJesus but that would be all the Thunderbirds would get as Daniels was out trying to stretch her hit into a double and Rodeo Carli struck out to end the game.
Christina Trice (1-0) scattered eight hits in going the distance for BYU while Brooks took the loss after giving up six hits in five and a third innings.
