RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The Thunderbird softball team opened up play at the Mizuno Invitational on Friday morning, as they took on both the UC Riverside Highlanders and the Boston University Terriers.
The T-Birds ended up falling in both contests, despite playing an extremely close contest with the Highlanders to start the day.
“In our game against Boston we failed to make adjustments at the plate and that simply can't continue to happen at this stage of the year,” SUU head coach Tom Gray said. “I was happy with the way we came back and swung the bat in the UC Riverside game. We had the tying runs at second and third in the seventh and I think our next two hitters battled at the plate. I'll take that type of effort every time.”
UC Riverside 6, SUU 4
The Thunderbirds jumped on the Highlanders fast, scoring a run in the top of the first and two in the top of the second to jump out to a 3-0.
UC Riverside responded fast, matching SUU's two runs in the bottom of the second and hanging four more runs on the T-Birds in the bottom of the third to take a 6-3 advantage.
SUU was able to pick up one more run in the top of the seventh, but it wasn't enough as the Highlanders ended up with a 6-4 advantage.
The Thunderbirds had a much more successful game at the plate, winding up with 14 hits on the afternoon.
Jordan Theurer had three hits and one RBI for the T-Birds.
Boston University 5, SUU 0
In their first game of the day the Thunderbirds fell to the Boston University Terriers 5-0 at Amy S. Harrison Field.
The Thunderbirds only had one hit in the game, which came from Peyton Hart. The Terriers scored five runs off seven hits.
SUU's Cheyenne Cudahy (1-4) was given the loss, despite striking out three Boston Batters.
The Terriers put on up on the board in the bottom of the second inning, before putting up two runs on the board in the bottom of both the third and fourth innings.
The Thunderbirds will continue play in Riverside on Saturday, when they will take on Yale to start the day, before matching up again with BU to close out tournament play.
“Tomorrow is a new day,” Gray said. “We need to come out and just keep grinding.”
