OGDEN, Utah - The Southern Utah softball team suffered a 10-6 loss to Montana in game one of the Big Sky Tournament.
The Grizzlies rallied for eight runs in the bottom of the first, and the Thunderbirds were unable to fight back.
Megan Reed and Karlee Manzione led SUU at the plate with three hits each.
The Thunderbirds threatened the Grizzlies with a leadoff double from Reed before SUU was shut down scoreless in the top of one. UM returned with a three-run homer before rallying for eight first inning runs.
“We put ourselves in a hole. We put the ball over the middle of the plate, and they hit a couple balls really hard,” SUU head coach Tom Gray said. “When you're down 8-0, it's pretty hard to come back.”
Kendall Kapitzke nailed a long homer to hit off the second inning and put the T-Birds on the board. Manzione doubled to left field before Reed connected on a RBI single to score Manzione and secure SUU's second run.
“After (the first inning) we hit the ball really well. Kendall may have hit the longest home run I've ever seen,” Gray said.
Both teams went three up, three down in the third inning before Morgan Leonard was hit by a pitch to land on first base. Leonard advanced to third on a wild pitch and a grounded out before Cook singled to score Leonard. Advancing on a grounded out, Cook then scored on a double from Reed to pull within four of the Grizzlies.
“We tried to battle back and stick in the game as much as we could,” Reed said. “If you take away the first inning, we won that game.”
UM answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth before the Thunderbirds hit off the top of the fifth inning with two runs. Jordan Theurer singled to left field before Kapitzke singled to score Theurer. Kapitzke scored on a sacrifice RBI from Cook to cut the gap to 9-6 in favor of the Grizzlies.
Montana tacked up a single run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 10-6 lead over the Thunderbirds. The sixth and seventh innings were scoreless to secure the UM win.
“We need to learn from this game and move on,” Reed said. “We're looking forward to the next game.”
The Thunderbirds will play their second game of the tournament on Friday, May 13, at 12:00 p.m. at Weber State University.
For game updates, follow SUU softball live at suutbirds.com or on twitter: @SUUSoftball
