OGDEN, Utah – The Southern Utah University softball team closed its season with a loss to Sacramento State in day two of the Big Sky Softball Tournament.

After SUU's starting catcher, Morgan Leonard, suffered a hand injury in pregame, the Thunderbirds struggled to find their groove. Seniors Amanda Cook and Kylee Wolf each took a shift behind the plate.

According to head coach Tom Gray, the unfamiliarity between the pitchers and catchers had a huge affect on their game.

“It affected how the pitchers were throwing. If they're throwing to someone they've never thrown to, it's going to have a huge impact,” Gray said. 

Megan Reed, Jordan Theurer, Kendall Kapitzke, and Chelsea Martinez chalked up one hit a piece in the loss for Southern Utah.

Theurer started the game off in the circle before Hanna Wynn, Haley Wall, and Cheyenne Cudahy each took a turn on the mound.

The Hornets put up four runs in the first inning before adding runs in each of the following three innings to seal a 17-0 victory.

Following SAC's four-run first inning, the Hornets tacked up a single run in the second, followed by five runs in the third and seven runs in the fourth.

“They hit the ball all over the park. They had 22 hits. It's pretty hard to do anything with that,” Gray said. “But I don't think we quit. We played hard.”

The Thunderbirds concluded their season with an 11-38 overall record.

“At the end of the season we started playing better ball,” Gray said. “But unfortunately today we didn't.”