CEDAR CITY, Utah. Big Sky bragging rights are on the line this weekend as the Southern Utah softball team hosts intra-state rival Weber State for a three-game series at Kathryn Berg Field April 23-24. 

Big Sky Team Standings

Southern Utah needs a sweep this weekend to take the lead in the Big Sky Conference as Weber State is currently two games ahead of the T-Birds in the standings. 

Rank, Team, Record
1, Weber State, 9-0
2, Southern Utah, 7-2
3, Sacramento State, 6-3
4, Northern Colorado, 5-7
5, Montana, 4-8
6, Portland State, 4-8
7, Idaho State, 1-8

SUU Single-Season School Record Trackers

Plenty of single-season school records are up for grabs for the Thunderbirds this season. 

Brooke Brown (12) and Josey White (11) are within striking distance of Lindi Kennedy's home run record of 15 set in 2007. 

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, Brooke Brown (2021), 12
T5, Mikkel Griffin (2012), 12
T5, Tiffany Burt (2006), 12
T8, Josey White (2021), 11
T8, Kylee Wolf (2014), 11
T8, Madison Resley (2014), 11
T8, Darleen Fernandez (2011), 11
T8, Marci Pratt (2007), 11
T8, Tiffany Burt (2005), 11

White and Kalena Shepherd have a chance at the single-season batting average title at SUU.  The official charts require 75 at-bats to be ranked.  White already has qualified and is ahead (.414) of the .405 previously put up by Denise Johnson (1993) and Luann Weston (1988). With 67 at-bats, Shepherd is closing in on the record as well with a .433 batting average. 

Rank, Name (Season), Batting Average
1., Josey White (2021), .414
2., Denise Johnson (1993), .405
2,. Luann Weston (1988), .405
4., Mikkel Griffin (2012), .404
4., Debbie Bone (1978), .404
4., Natalie Smith (1978), .404

Brown moved into the top 10 in RBI in a single season last weekend with 44 thus far. Marci Pratt owns that school record with 58 RBI in 2006. 

Rank, Name (Season), RBI
1, Marci Pratt (2006), 58
2, Lindi Kennedy (2007), 57
3, Kortny Hall (2006), 54
4, Tiffany Burt (2006), 52
5, Bonnie Cahill (1981), 51
T6, Kadi Henderson (2014), 46 
T6, Bobbi Jo Merrill (2007), 46
T6, Erin Niederhauser (2007), 46
9, Brooke Brown (2021), 44
T10, Madison Resley (2014), 43
T10, Kelsey Bryan (2012), 43

White, Brown and Shepherd all are well on their way to break Sarah Murphy's 2018 slugging percentage record of .765.  White (.802) and Brown (.774) have already qualified to be part of the list, while Shepherd (.791) is just three at-bats shy of being eligible for the record.  

Rank, Name (Season), Slugging Percentage
1, Josey White (2021), .802
2, Brooke Brown (2021), .774
3, Sarah Murphy (2018), .765
4, Marci Pratt (2006), .748
5, Mikkel Griffin (2012), .714

SUU also has an outside shot at some overall single-season team records with 10 games left on the schedule.  

Most home runs in a season: 68 (61 games, 2007)
Current: 48 (36 games)

Slugging Percentage in a season: .482 (35 games, 1984)
Current: .510 (36 games)

On-Base Percentage in a season: .416 (31 games, 1978)
Current: .387 (36 games)

NCAA Stat Rankings

The Thunderbirds are scattered throughout the NCAA Stat Rankings.

Individual Rankings:
Batting Average: Kalena Shepherd, 42nd, .433
Doubles: Josey White, t18th, 12
Doubles per Game: Josey White, t48th, .33
Hit By Pitch Per Game: Makall Whetten, 18th, .39
Hits: Josey White, t30th, 48
Home Runs: Brooke Brown, t27th, 12
Home Runs Per Game: Brooke Brown, t40th, .33
On Base Percentage: Kalena Shepherd, 20th, .552
RBI: Brooke Brown, t10th, 44
RBI Per Game: Brooke Brown, 15th, 1.22
Slugging Percentage: Josey White, 42nd, .802
Total Bases: Josey White, t19th, 93; Brooke Brown, t47th, 82

Team Rankings:
Double Plays Per Game, t39th, .42
Doubles Per Game, t39th, 1.56
Home Runs Per Game, t21st, 1.33
On Base Percentage, 42nd, .387
Scoring, 37th, 5.83
Slugging Percentage, 34th, .510

Big Sky Stat Leaders

Josey White continues to reign supreme in several offensive categories in the Big Sky.  She's atop batting average (.414), slugging percentage (.802), on-base percentage (.453), hits (48), doubles (12) and total bases (93).

Brooke Brown holds the top spot in home runs (12) and RBI (44), while Dayna Hokanson leads total runs scored (35). 

Weekend Preview

Weber State owns a 19-12 record overall as well as an unblemished 9-0 mark in Big Sky Conference play.

The Wildcats may not have the power numbers of the Thunderbirds, but the squad has some serious speed with 14 triples on the team already this year along with 50 doubles.  Five of their most active batters are batting at .300 or above with Mia Rushton leading the way with a .374 batting average.  Chloe Camarero (1.012) and Lauren Hoe (1.067), meanwhile, both have on-base percentages of more than 1.000.

Weber State has a pair of aces in the circle with Mariah Ramirez and Kate Donaldson.  Ramirez sports a 9-4 record with a 3.15 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 71 innings pitched.  Donaldson is 7-4 with a 3.66 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched. 

Game Day Information

All three contests will take place in the friendly confines of Kathryn Berg Field in Cedar City, Utah.  

The two squads initially face off with a doubleheader on Friday, April 23 at 1 p.m. MST.  The teams close out the series with a single game on Saturday, April 24 at 12 noon MST. 

As always, live stats will be found at tbirdstats.com while all three games will be televised on Pluto TV Channel 1055.

Last Time Out

Southern Utah went 2-1 against Montana in a three-game Big Sky road trip.

SUU did some major damage on day one, scoring 19 runs as part of a doubleheader sweep that featured 9-1 and 10-3 triumphs.  Day two featured a tough loss for the T-Birds as they fell 6-5 in the final inning. 

Brooke Brown feasted on Montana pitching in all three contests going 6-for-11 with 8 RBI and a trio of home runs. 

Tyler Denhart won the first contest, moving to 8-7 on the year.  Payton Goodrich topped the Grizzlies in the second game for her fourth win of the season.  Grace Owen took the loss on the final day to move to 3-3 on the year. 

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