CEDAR CITY, Utah. The Southern Utah softball squad came to play in what was an extremely entertaining day of Big Sky Conference action against Portland State. SUU won the opener, 9-7, while walking off a roller coaster contest, 11-10, in the nightcap at Kathryn Berg Field in Cedar City.   The wins pushed SUU to 5-0 in conference play to keep pace with Weber State (5-0) for first in the conference. 

"Our team showed a lot of grit and perseverance today," head coach Don Don Williams said. "They were solid wins for our team, especially coming back from being down 8-0.  I'm proud of the team's perseverance.  They never gave up."

Brooke Brown led a trio of T-Birds with home runs on the day with a pair of dingers in the second game.  Brown jacked her second grand slam of the season during the contest before rocketing another shot to left field to finish the tilt 2-for-3 with six RBI. Brown had 7 RBI during the two games after a 1-for-3 effort in the opener.

"Brooke Brown is clutch," Williams said. "She's been doing that all year for us.  I am so proud of her.  She also is playing great defense for us and is leading our team."

Josey White, an early contender for Big Sky Player of the Year, unleashed her 11th home run of the season during the opener as she went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI in game one. 

That home run moved White into a seventh-ranked tie for most in a season by a Thunderbird.  Lindi Kennedy owns the school record with 15.
 

"Josey just has a great approach to all of her at bats," Williams said. "She continues to produce for us.  I am looking forward to finishin the season with her.  She's been a great addition to the program."

Kalena Shepherd also went yard for the Thunderbirds, rocketing a two-run shot to right field in game one as well.

The opener started off well for the T-Birds as SUU jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first frame. White's aforementioned 11th shot of the season plated Dayna Hokanson and Makall Whetten for the 3-0 lead.

Portland State countered in the second, cutting the lead to 3-2.  Southern Utah responded in the third as Shepherd's two-run blast extended the lead to 5-2 and plated Brown..  Reilly Williams commenced what would be a career day with clutch hitting as she singled through the right side to score Gianna Carosone. 

Brown pushed the lead to 7-2 in the fourth with a single up the middle to bring home Hokanson before Carosone ripped a single through the right side to score White for an 8-2 lead in the fourth. 

Portland State continued to battle, shaving the gap to 8-4 in the top of the sixth stanza before Shepherd added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice fly to plate Paige Reynolds for a 9-5 lead.

SUU's insurance run was helpful in the top of the seventh as the Vikings attempted to rally, cutting the lead to 9-7 before their comeback attempt stalled at the hands of Grace Owen.

Tyler Denhart, the reigning Big Sky Pitcher of the Week, collected her seventh win of the season to move to .500 with a 7-7 record this year.  Denhart pitched six innings with a strikeout, six flyouts and 10 groundouts.  Owen, meanwhile, closed out the final inning with a flyout and two groundouts.

The second contest, however, proved to be a much different affair for the Thunderbirds.  Instead of jumping out to a lead and holding on against a determined Viking squad, the T-Birds were in the comeback role.

Portland State, riding the momentum from a strong close to game one, struck early and often against Southern Utah in the second game.  PSU uncorked for a 4-0 lead after the first inning, before tacking on three more runs for a daunting 7-0 lead after the second inning.  The Vikings looked well on their way to a run-rule victory in the top of the third as they stretched their lead to 8-0.

The Thunderbirds, however, put on their rally caps and went to work in the bottom of the third.  Brown crushed her second grand slam of the season with a bases-clearing rocket to center field to plate White, Hokanson and Skyler Ball and cut the gap to 8-4.

Southern Utah kept on rolling in the bottom of the fourth as Hokanson singled to center field to bring home Mikelle Magalogo to shave the advantage to 8-5.  Brown then walked with bases loaded to bring home Madison Sanders to move the score to 8-6.  Shepherd knotted the game up, 8-8, with a single through the right side to plate Hokanson and Whetten.

The rest of the game proved to be a game of tit-for-tat.  Portland State retaliated in the top of the fifth to retake the lead, 9-8.  SUU followed in the bottom of the fifth as Ball scored Magalogo with a sacrifice fly to second base to tie the game at 9-9.

Portland State countered again with a run in the top of the sixth for a 10-9 lead before Brown answered with a solo rocket to left field to tie the game at 10-10 in the bottom of the sixth. 

Following a strong top of the seventh from Owen to keep the score tie heading into the bottom of the seventh stanza, Williams walked off Portland State with a double to right center that sent Magalogo sprinting home from second base to win the game, 11-10. 

Owen collected her third win to move to 3-2 in the relief appearance.  She pitched five innings with four strikeouts, five flyouts and six groundouts. 

Next up, the Thunderbirds look for a second Big Sky Conference three-game sweep with a game against Portland State tomorrow at 11 a.m. MT.  Earl

The game will be broadcast on Pluto TV Channel 1055, while live stats will be at tbirdstats.com. 

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