CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah softball squad opens Big Sky Conference play with a three-game set against Idaho State in Pocatello on April 2-3.
Last Time Out
The Thunderbirds unleashed one of their best games of the season at the home-opener at Kathryn Berg Field in Cedar City, run-ruling Dixie State, 12-4.
Dixie State opened scoring in the top of the first with a pair of runs to take a 1-0 lead, but the T-Birds went to work in the batter's box in a big way the rest of the game.
SUU cut the advantage to 2-1 in the bottom of the first when Makall Whetten went yard with a leadoff home run over the right field fence.
The T-Birds followed in the bottom of the second stanza with a nine-spot to take a 10-2 lead. Southern Utah took advantage of a pair of errors by DSU as well as wild pitching from the Trailblazers.
Kalena Shepherd scored when Mikelle Magalogo reached on an error to tie the game 2-2. Whetten, fresh off her home run in the first, loaded the bases by being hit by a pitch. Dayna Hokanson then picked up an RBI with another hit-by-pitch to take a 3-2 lead.
Josey White demonstrated patience at the plate, drawing a bases-loaded walk to plate Magalogo and push the lead to 4-2.
Brooke Brown continued her recent hot streak with a bases-clearing double to right center that gave her 3 more RBI on the season and chased DSU's pitcher for a 7-2 advantage.
Another DSU error brought home Gianna Carosone and Brown as Reilly Williams reached on the DSU miscue, extending the SUU lead to 9-2.
Magalogo closed out scoring in the frame with a double to right center to plate Williams for a 10-2 lead.
Magalogo extended the lead for SUU in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Carosone to stretch the lead to 11-2.
Dixie State prevented an immediate run-rule loss in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs to shave the difference to 11-4. White, however, had a different plan in the bottom of the fifth with a double that scored Hokanson to complete the 12-4 run-rule conquest.
Both Brown and Magalogo closed the day with a trio of RBI each, while Williams and White each drove home a pair of runs.
Tyler Denhart captured her fourth win of the season with just two earned runs charged against her. She mowed down six Trailblazers with strikeouts while also inducing a trio of flyouts and five groundouts in 4.2 innings pitched.
Big Sky Conference Stat Leaders
Josey White is still the top offensive threat in the Big Sky thus far. She leads the league in batting average (.443), slugging percentage (.937), hits (35), RBI (34), doubles (9), home runs (10), total bases (74) and sacrifice flies (2),
White is second in on-base percentage (.465) only to SUU's Makall Whetten (.467). Whetten also leads the conference in hit-by-pitch with 11. Dayna Hokanson is the top table-setter in the league as she's scored 24 times.
Weekend Preview
Idaho State is 6-13 and 0-3 in Big Sky play this year after dropping three to Weber State on March 27-28. Idaho State is currently on a seven-game losing streak heading into its home-opener at Miller Ranch Stadium.
Emma Bordenkecher leads the team offensively with a .421 batting average, 24 hits, five home runs, and 20 RBI as well as a .719 slugging percentage and .469 on-base percentage.
Mareena Ramirez and Mailee Newman share the circle as the top pitchers for ISU. Ramirez holds a 6.47 ERA with a 3-5 record. She has collected 20 strikeouts on the season, while Newman owns a 7.26 ERA with a 3-4 record and 22 strikeouts.
Quoting Coach Don Don Williams
"We have had a tough preseason schedule and the team has continued to grow and persevere through several obstacles. We are looking forward to competing against Big Sky opponents."
Game Day Information
Southern Utah opens Big Sky Conference play with a three-game set at Idaho State in Pocatello. The teams open with a doubleheader on April 2 at Noon MST before closing the series with a single contest on April 3 at Noon MST.
Live stats for all games can be found at tbirdstats.com, while the games will be broadcast on Pluto TV.
Follow Us
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