CEDAR CITY, Utah. - Southern Utah softball's proclivity for blasting balls over the outfield fence brought it a Big Sky Conference split against intra-state rivals Weber State today at Kathryn Berg Field in Cedar City.

The Thunderbirds cranked out a trio of home runs today, bringing their team tally to 51.  While SUU struggled a bit in the opener, taking a 10-1 loss to the Wildcats, the T-Birds had an offensive explosion in the second game to win 8-6 and deliver Weber State its initial Big Sky loss of the year. 

The split moved SUU to 16-22 on the season and 8-3 in Big Sky play, while the Wildcats are 20-14 and 10-1 in the Big Sky.  A win tomorrow for the Thunderbirds would move them to within a game of Weber State for the Big Sky lead. 

Brooke Brown blasted her 13th home run of the season in the opener to account for SUU's scoring.  That moved Brown into a tie for second in a single season in Thunderbird history behind only record-holder Lindi Kennedy's 15 moon shots in 2007. Brown has now matched the outputs of Kadi Henderson (2014), Bobbi Jo Merrill (2007) and Marci Pratt (2006).

SUU had its chances in the opener with six hits, but was unable to overcome four errors in the field.  Josey White added her 13th double of the season as well. 

Tyler Denhart took the loss to drop to 8-8 on the season despite registering four strikeouts.  She also collected seven flyouts and seven groundouts.  Grace Owen pitched an inning of relief. 

Southern Utah rebounded in a big way in the nightcap, plating eight runs off seven hits, including a pair of home runs and a double. 

Makall Whetten broke out of a mini-slump in a big way in the bottom of the third with a grand slam to put SUU up 4-1. Her 10th home run of the season came at just the right time as she brought home Kalena Shepherd, Brown and Josey White.

After Weber State knotted the game up 4-4 in the top of the fourth, Dayna Hokanson singled up the middle to bring home Mikelle Magalogo before White rocked her 12th home run of the season to center field to score Hokanson and Paige Reynolds for an 8-4 lead. 

SUU hung on to the lead, to win 8-6 and deliver Payton Goodrich her fifth win of the season.  Goodrich pitched five innings with four strikeouts and 11 flyouts before giving way to Denhart, who collected her second save of the season with 2 innings in the circle. 

Southern Utah's single-season home run record is definitely in jeopardy. 

Rank, Name (Season), Home Runs
1, Lindi Kennedy (2007), 15
T2, Brooke Brown (2021), 13
T2, Kadi Henderson (2014), 13
T2, Bobbi Jo Merrill (2007), 13
T2, Marci Pratt (2006), 13
T6, Josey White (2021), 12
T6, Mikkel Griffin (2012), 12
T6, Tiffany Burt (2006), 12
T9, Kylee Wolf (2014), 11
T9, Madison Resley (2014), 11
T9, Darleen Fernandez (2011), 11
T9, Marci Pratt (2007), 11
T9, Tiffany Burt (2005), 11

Next up, Southern Utah hosts Weber State in the rubber match of a three-game set tomorrow at 12 noon MST at Kathryn Berg Field in Cedar City. 

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