CALIFORNIA – The Thunderbird softball team returns home from the Louisville Slugger Tournament where they picked up a 3-0 win over Seattle, and losses to Cal State Fullerton, Northwestern, UCLA, Long Beach State and Utah Valley.
“We did show some improvement at the plate,” head coach Tom Gray said of the tournament. “But we still need to hit better with runners on.”
Southern Utah knocked five hits in its matchup with Northwestern, but couldn't manage to put a run on the board. Northwestern took a 4-0 lead to begin the second inning before adding two runs in the third and three in the fifth to earn a 9-0 win. Kylee Wolf hit two doubles for the Thunderbirds as Ashley Ostler was on the mound.
In SUU's Cal State Fullerton matchup, Wolf singled to left field and stole second before Sara Park singled to center to advance Wolf. Lyndsey Healey grounded into a double play, which advanced Wolf home as the Thunderbirds took a 1-0 jump over Cal State Fullerton in the first inning before the game tied at two to enter the third. CSUF rallied eight runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to grab a 9-1 victory over Southern Utah.
The first three innings of SUU's Seattle game were scoreless. In the bottom of the fourth, Kelli Hales singled before Taylor Dumas grounded out, which advanced Hales to second. Tanisha Anderson took advantage of a fielding error to get to second base and push Hales home and put the first run of the game on the board. The scoring continued as Park doubled to left center for an RBI before Healey singled to left center to score Park. The scoring drought returned for both teams as the Thunderbirds earned a 3-0 win.
“After a rough day on Friday, the team came out with great enthusiasm and played a very good game,” Gray said of the win. “Katie Greenberg had a very good outing.”
Southern Utah matched up with UCLA in its fourth game of the tournament. The Bruins took a 2-0 lead to enter the third inning before Ostler was hit by a pitch to get on base. A SAC bunt from Anderson advanced Ostler to second. Ostler took advantage of UCLA fielding errors to reach home and put SUU on the board. The Bruins responded with three runs in the third, three in the fourth and one in the fifth to wrap up the game with a 9-1 win.
Wolf doubled down the right field line to get Southern Utah rolling in its Utah Valley matchup before singles from Park and Healey scored Wolf. Utah Valley responded in the top of the second with two runs before a homerun from Williams and runs from Healey and Wolf put SUU back in the lead, 4-2. UVU rallied five runs in the fifth to seal a 7-4 victory.
SUU took on Long Beach State in its final matchup of the tournament as LBS walked off the field with a 3-1 win. Long Beach State led 1-0 to enter the fourth inning before Park walked with bases loaded to score Greenberg. LBS put up a run in the fifth and a run in the sixth to top the Thunderbirds, 3-1. Hanna Wynn was on the mound for Southern Utah.
“Hanna Wynn did a great job both in relief earlier (Utah Valley game) and starting the Long Beach State game,” Gray commented.
Southern Utah will compete in the San Luis Obispo Tournament for its final preseason tournament, where they will take on Cal Poly, IUPUI, USD, Bryant and USD on the weekend of Mar. 6 – Mar. 8.
