LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Southern Utah softball team competed in the 2021 UNLV Rebel Kickoff over the weekend where they played No. 2 Washington, Dixie State, and the host UNLV Rebels.
Josey White and Makall Whetten provided the offensive power for the Thunderbirds all weekend as they hit a combined .433 with 15 RBI and five home runs. White hit .438 with four home runs, including a grand slam, and eight RBI. The redshirt sophomore slugged 1.250 and also scored five times. Whetten hit .429 with seven RBI, two doubles, and a home run.
Brooke Brown also had a good weekend at the plate hitting .357 in 14 at-bats with a home run and two RBI.
The Thunderbirds opened the season on Friday against the No. 2 team in the country, the Washington Huskies. Washington's Gabbie Plain threw a perfect game, sitting down every T-Bird she faced in the circle and the Huskies would win the game 0-8 in five innings.
In game two on Friday, the Thunderbirds were bested by the Rebels 2-10 in five innings. White and Dana Hokanson both hit solo home runs in the loss.
In their second game against the Huskies to open the day on Saturday, the Thunderbirds scored 13 runs on 15 hits. They were down 0-2 in the second inning when Skyler Ball scored on a bases loaded walk and Whetten tied the game with a RBI single. White then hit a grand slam that put the Thunderbirds up 6-2. After the Huskies scored a run in the top of the third, Whetten knocked in two more with a double in the bottom of the third to make it 8-3 Southern Utah.
Washington would go on to score 11 runs over the next two innings and lead it 8-14 heading into the bottom of the fifth. Whetten and White both homered in the bottom of the inning as Whetten hit a three-run bomb and White hit a two-run blast to bring the T-Birds within one after five innings of play.
However, Washington would score runs in both the sixth and the seventh innings to give them the 13-19 victory.
In game two on Saturday, Southern Utah faced Dixie State in a tight contest that ended in a 4-5 loss for the T-Birds. Brown opened the game with a two-run home run and White hit a solo shot in the third inning to give SUU a 3-0 lead early. By the end of the fifth inning, the Trailblazers had tied the game 3-3, but with two on in the top of the sixth, Hokanson hit a RBI single to make it 4-3 Thunderbirds.
In the bottom of the inning, Dixie State would score two more runs and eventually win 4-5.
The Thunderbirds wrapped up the tournament on Sunday with a 5-13 five inning loss to UNLV. Reilly Williams hit a three-run home run and Grace Owen threw 1.2 innings of scoreless relief work in the loss.
The Thunderbirds will be in Tucson, Arizona next weekend to compete in the Hillenbrand Invitational hosted by the University of Arizona.
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