CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah softball team will compete in the Highlander Classic hosted by UC Riverside this weekend from March 6-8.

Last Time Out

The Thunderbirds were in Tempe, Arizona last weekend to compete in the Sun Devil Classic where they went 1-4. Their lone win came over the Wisconsin Badgers 2-0.

Koryne Coddington pitched her first shutout as a Thunderbird in the win, allowing just three hits and striking out two Badgers over seven innings. Brooke Brown, Paige Reynolds, and Mackenzie Whitten each had two hits in the game and Makall Whetten and Dream Weaver knocked in the two runs for the T-Birds.

Brown and Whitten both hit over .300 for the weekend. Brown hit .385 with two home runs, four RBI, and three runs scored. Whitten hit .308 with a double and a run scored. Coddington pitched a total of 19.2 innings and posted a 2.14 ERA.

Highlander Classic Preview

The Thunderbirds will square off against more high-profile competition this weekend, as they'll compete in the HIghlander Classic in Riverside, California. 

They will open tournament play against CSU Bakersfield, who have gotten off to a rocky 1-8 start to the year. Their lone victory came on February 16 against Nevada 8-3. 

Southern Utah will face another Power 5 Conference foe this weekend in Michigan State out of the Big Ten Conference. SUU's two wins this season have come against P5 teams. The Spartans are 5-12 this season. 

California Baptist will enter this weekend of play with a 7-13 overall record, winning two of their previous three contests.   

The Thunderbirds will wrap up competition against UC Riverside, who are 8-12 to this point of the year. The Highlanders have played a group of high level competition as well, with victories against Utah State and San Diego State. They've also had defeats to Brigham Young, Mississippi State and Utah.   

Tournament Info

SUU will open tournament play with one contest on Friday against CSU Bakersfield. 

On Saturday the T-Birds will play a double-header against Michigan State and California Baptist. 

They will wrap up competition on Sunday with a second-straight double-header, squaring off against CSU Bakersfield a second time, along with UC Riverside. 

Live stats and live streams for Saturday's game only will be available at suutbirds.com.

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