GREELEY, Colo. The highlight of the day for the Southern Utah softball squad came in the initial game when Brooke Brown moved within one home run of the school's single-season record. SUU, however, fell in a pair of nailbiters with a 3-2 extra inning loss in the opener and a 4-3 defeat in the finale.
After three scoreless innings in the first game, the T-Birds broke into the scoring column in the top of the fourth frame. Gianna Carosone grounded out to second with the bases loaded to plate Brown to take a 1-0 lead. Northern Colorado countered in the bottom of the fourth to knot the game at 1-1.
After another three scoreless innings, Brown unleashed her 14th home run of the season with a blast to left field to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the eight.
The home run moved Brown just a single big fly behind the SUU single-season home run record of 15 set by Lindi Kennedy in 2007.
Rank, Name (Season), Home Runs
1, Lindi Kennedy (2007), 15
2, Brooke Brown (2021), 14
T3, Kadi Henderson (2014), 13
T3, Bobbi Jo Merrill (2007), 13
T3, Marci Pratt (2006), 13
T6, Josey White (2021), 12
T6, Mikkel Griffin (2012), 12
T6, Tiffany Burt (2006), 12
Unfortunately for the T-Birds, Northern Colorado had a strong bottom of the eighth with two runs to capture a 3-2 victory.
Tyler Denhart pitched a complete-game and had twirled a gem before a difficult final inning. She took the loss, falling to 8-10 on the year, after inducing 10 flyouts and 9 groundouts with just four hits through seven before giving up four hits in the final inning.
In the nightcap, Northern Colorado jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. SUU bounced back in the top of the third with a pair of runs to take a 2-1 advantage. Josey White placed a beautiful suicide squeeze bunt single with Dayna Hokanson at third to tie the game. Kalena Shepherd then singled to left field to push Brooke Brown across the plate.
Northern Colorado responded in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs to retake a 3-2 lead. The roller coaster continued in the top of the fifth as SUU tied up the game, 3-3. Skyler Ball singled up the middle to bring home Madison Sanders. The Bears fought back in the bottom of the sixth with another run to secure a 4-3 victory.
Payton Goodrich started the game and went four innings with four strikeouts, four flyouts and a trio of groundouts. Grace Owen came into the game the final two innings and took the loss to fall to 3-4 this year.
Next up, the Thunderbirds will look to avoid the road sweep with the final contest against Northern Colorado at 12 noon MST tomorrow.
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