SUU Softball Falls in Season Opener at Hawaii

HONOLULU, Hawaii - Feb. 10 - Southern Utah University softball took an early 1-0 lead, but Hawaii hitters found their stroke to hand the Thunderbirds a 9-1 defeat on Thursday night. The loss drops the T-Birds to 0-1 on the year with Hawaii defending its home field to move to 1-0.

SUU began the first inning with a one-out single off the bat of Stephanie DeJesus and was followed by an RBI triple to the right center gap by Aly Daniels to put the T-Birds up 1-0. Southern Utah starting pitcher, Heather Black, kept Rainbow Wahine hitters at bay through the first two and two thirds innings while tallying three strikeouts.

However a pair of two-out home runs in the bottom of the third shifted the lead to the side of Hawaii, 3-1 as Black finished the frame with her fourth of five strikeout during the contest.

Brittney Henderson's two-out rip over the right fielder in the top of the fourth inning looked like it would kick start an SUU run, but the senior was thrown out at third as she tried to stretch the double. The Thunderbirds tallied one more hit in the fifth inning, but wasn't able to turn the hits into runs.

Hawaii finished its final two innings with six runs, leading to the eventual 9-1 defeat for Southern Utah.

"I was impressed tonight," head coach Kyle Magnusson said after the game. "We were playing against one of the better teams in the country and were right there with them in hits. We were hitting against one of the best pitchers in the game and we saw great things from our pitchers tonight."

Southern Utah will continue the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic with games against UC Davis and Texas State on Friday night. Live stats for both games can be found at www.suutbirds.com.

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Players Mentioned

#7 Heather Black: P; 5' 10"; Junior

#22 Aly Daniels: INF; 5' 6"; Senior

#17 Stephanie DeJesus: INF; 5' 3"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#7 Heather Black
: 5' 10"; Junior
: P

#22 Aly Daniels
: 5' 6"; Senior
: INF

#17 Stephanie DeJesus
: 5' 3"; Senior
: INF

Players Mentioned

#7 Heather Black

#22 Aly Daniels

#17 Stephanie DeJesus

Players Mentioned

#7 Heather Black

#22 Aly Daniels

#17 Stephanie DeJesus