MISSOULA, Mont. The Southern Utah softball team kept pace in the Big Sky Conference with a pair of dominant wins against Montana in Missoula today. The T-Birds claimed the opener, 9-1, before belting their way to a 10-3 conquest to close the evening.
The win moved SUU to 7-1 in the Big Sky Conference, second behind intra-state rival Weber State's 9-0 conference tally.
Brooke Brown continued her ballistic ways in the batter's box as she battered a pair of pitches over the center-field fence to move herself into a tie with Josey White for the team lead with 11 homers each. In fact, both are now tied for seventh all time on SUU's single-season charts.
Rank, Name (Season), Home Runs
1, Lindi Kennedy (2007), 15
T2, Kadi Henderson (2014), 13
T2, Bobbi Jo Merrill (2007), 13
T2, Marci Pratt (2006), 13
T5, Mikkel Griffin (2012), 12
T5, Tiffany Burt (2006), 12
T7, Josey White (2021), 11
T7, Brooke Brown (2021), 11
T7, Kylee Wolf (2014), 11
T7, Madison Resley (2014), 11
T7, Darleen Fernandez (2011), 11
T7, Marci Pratt (2007), 11
T7, Tiffany Burt (2005), 11
Brown had a tremendous day, going 4-for-7 with 5 RBI and two home runs.
Game 1
Southern Utah wasted little time breaking into the scoring column in the opener, scoring two runs on two hits and an error in the top of the first.
Kalena Shepherd ripped a double to left center, her third of the season, to plate Brooke Brown and take a 1-0 lead. Gianna Carosone followed with a single to second base that resulted in Makayla Marshall sprinting home on a Grizzly throwing miscue to extend the lead to 2-0.
Mikelle Magalogo demolished a pitch to leadoff the second stanza with a shot over the center-field fence to give SUU a 3-0 advantage. That's Magalogo's third home run of the season as the T-Birds continued to pile on the power numbers.
Dayna Hokanson flashed some defensive brilliance at second base in the bottom of the second to keep Montana off the board. Hokanson turned a 6-4-2 double play, erasing a Grizzly at home plate to end the threat.
Makall Whetten unleashed a two-RBI double to left center in the top of the third to score Carosone and Josey White as well as stretch SUU's lead to 5-0. Whetten followed a masterful 12-pitch walk by Carosone with her ninth double of the season.
SUU wiped out another Montana scoring threat in the bottom of the third inning as left fielder White gunned down a Grizzly at home trying to score on a Montana single.
Southern Utah kept on rolling in the top of the fourth with two more runs courtesy of a Brooke Brown Bomb as Brown poked a ball over the center-field fence to score Paige Reynolds. SUU pushed its lead to 7-0 with the blast. Brown moved to within one home run of White for the team lead with her 10th rocket of the season.
Montana countered in the bottom of the fourth with a run to shave SUU's advantage to 7-1.
Reilly Wiliams responded in the top of the seventh by lacing a double to right center to bring home Whetten for an 8-1 lead. Skyler Ball gave SUU back-to-back doubles with a hit to right center to score Williams for a 9-1 advantage.
Tyler Denhart claimed her eighth victory of the season with a 1.17 ERA in six innings pitched. Grace Owen relieved Denhart with a clean bottom of the seventh to close out the win. The win also proved to be the first for the Thunderbirds against Montana since 2017.
Game 2
Brooke Brown Bomb #2 of the day came in the top of the first in the nightcap as Brown uncorked a pitch over the left-field fence to also plate Dayna Hokanson. With the two-run shot, SUU jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
Brown's 11th home run of the season tied her with Josey White for the team lead as well as tied her with White and a host of other Thunderbirds for seventh all-time on the single-season home run charts for SUU. Lindi Kennedy owns the team record with 15 dingers in 2007.
Montana responded in the bottom of the first with a trio of runs to take a 3-2 lead.
The Thunderbirds fired back in the top of the second as Reilly Williams singled up the middle to bring home Makall Whetten and knot the game at 3-3.
Mikelle Magalogo took advantage of some Montana wild pitching by walking with the bases loaded to retake a 4-3 lead for SUU. The walk followed another walk from Whetten.
Kalena Shepherd tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth with a single to right field with the bases loaded for a 6-3 advantage for the T-Birds. White and Hokanson both came home on the single.
The T-Bird defense preserved the lead in the bottom of the fourth, largely due to an epic double play turned by right fielder Skyler Ball. After catching a fly ball to right, Ball picked off a Grizzly retreating back to first base.
Brown kept the momentum going with another RBI as she singled to left field with the bases loaded to push Magalogo across home plate for a 7-3 lead in the top of the fifth. Shepherd then collected two more RBI with a single to right field to score White and Madison Sanders for a 9-3 advantage. Carosone kept the merry-go-round going with a single to third base to bring home Brown for a 10-3 lead that stood up the rest of the game.
Payton Goodrich clinched her fourth win of the season in the circle with a 4.50 ERA in 4.2 innings pitched. Grace Owen turned in 2.1 scoreless innings in relief.
Next up, Thunderbird Softball closes its three-game series against Montana on April 18 at 12 Noon MST.
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