CEDAR CITY, Utah – Southern Utah matched up with Utah State in a double-header to open its home season as the teams split for one victory each. The Aggies came out on top in the opening game for a 7-3 victory before the Thunderbirds bounced back with vengeance in the second for a 9-7 win.
“It's always a good sign to answer back like that. We could have played better, but we are making strides forward. I think we will play fine over the weekend,” head coach Tom Gray said. “The first game was the result of us getting on our heals offensively and not being as aggressive at the plate as we needed to be. The second game, we came out and answered. They hit the ball hard and I was happy with that.”
Utah opened the first game with two runs before the Thunderbirds answered right back as Sarah Park singled up the middle before Kaitlin Williams homered with two outs to tie the game.
The Aggies tacked a single run on the board in the second inning before adding two in the third and one in the fourth. The Thunderbirds suffered a scoring drought before Park tripled to left field in the sixth and Lyndsey Healey flied out to right field for an RBI to score Park. Utah State scored the game's final run in the top of the seventh before concluding the game with a 7-3 victory.
Williams finished the game with two RBI's for the Thunderbirds as Park concluded with three hits and two runs. Katie Greenberg and Ashley Ostler each pitched half of the game. Utah State ended with 10 hits as Southern Utah trailed with eight.
Utah State put up a quick two runs in the first inning of the second game before Southern Utah quickly responded with an explosive four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Kylee Wolf doubled down the left field line to get the Thunderbirds rolling before Park singled up the middle for an RBI. Williams walked to advance Park to second before Jordan Theurer singled to push Williams to third and score Park. Williams scored on a wild pitch before Hales singled up the middle to score Theurer for an RBI.
“Coming from a loss, it was definitely a motivation to get the win in the second game,” Wolf said. “It's always good to win, but conference is going to be a whole different league, mindset and challenge in and of itself.”
The Aggies failed to score a run in the second inning before Southern Utah kept its momentum rolling as Wolf singled up the middle and Park singled to advance Wolf to third. Healey singled to score Wolf and push Park to third. Healey stole second before the Aggies caught Park stealing at home. Healey advanced to third on a wild pitch, Williams walked, and Theurer singled to the left side to score Healey. A single from Hales scored Williams to round out the rally with a 7-2 Thunderbird lead.
The third and fourth innings were scoreless before the Aggies earned two runs in the top of the fifth to cut Southern Utah's lead to two before scoring another two in the top of the sixth to tie up the game at seven.
Hales knocked a hit up the middle before advancing to second. Greenberg walked before Anderson grounded out to advance Greenberg to second and Hales to third. Wolf doubled to score Hales and Greenberg and enter the final inning with a 9-7 lead. The Thunderbirds held the Aggies in the top of the sixth to earn a two-run victory. Wynn and Ostler pitched the Thunderbirds to the win.
“It's a great feeling to be out there with great teammates to back me up,” Ostler said. “It was good to get a lot of runs before heading out to Portland.”
Southern Utah will hit off Big Sky play by hitting the road to Oregon to take on Portland State on Mar. 21.
