CEDAR CITY, Utah. - Brooke Brown made history today at Kathryn Berg Field as she tied a Southern Utah softball single-season mark during a Big Sky split with Sacramento State. SUU dropped game one, 11-1, before powering back to claim the second contest, 11-8.

Brown's second game blast tied her with Lindi Kennedy for the most home runs in a single season at 15.

Rank, Name (Season), Home Runs
T1, Brooke Brown (2021), 15
T1, Lindi Kennedy (2007), 15
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

Kalena Shepherd, meanwhile, had an amazing day at the plate with a pair of moon shots of her own. Her season tally is now nine.  With one more home run by Shepherd, this year's team would have the second-most double-digit home run hitters in school history.

The 2007 squads owns the record with five: Lindi Kennedy (15), Bobbi Jo Merrill (13), Marci Pratty (11), Erin Niederhauser (10), Kortny Hall (10).  Currently, SUU is tied with the 2014 team with a trio of double-digit home run artists with Brown (15), Josey White (12) and Makall Whetten (10).  The 2014 squad featured Kadi Henderson (13), Kylee Wolf (11) and Madison Resley (11).

Brown is also just two RBI away from joining the exclusive 50 club.  Just five Thunderbirds have ever driven home 50-or-more runs in a season.

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
6, Brooke Brown (2021), 48

Game 2 

In the nightcap, Sacramento State struck first with a two-run top of the first to take a 2-0 lead.

Brooke Brown made history in the bottom of the third, however, with her 15th big fly of the season to tie the game 2-2.  With Makall Whetten on base in front of her, Brown came to the plate and sent the ball flying to left field.

The home run tied Brown with Lindi Kennedy for the most home runs by Thunderbird in a single season.  Kennedy initially set the record in 2007. 

SUU then took a 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly as Gianna Carosone lifted a ball to centerfield to bring home Kalena Shepherd. 

Sacramento State countered in the top of the second with six runs to retake the lead, 8-3. 

SUU bounced back in the bottom of the second to shave the gap to 8-6..  

Whetten singled to right field to plate Reilly Williams.  Dayna Hokanson followed with a beautiful suicide squeeze to score Skyler Ball. 

Then, with the bases loaded including a Brown hit-by-pitch, Josey White collected an RBI the hard way with a hit-by-pitch of her own to force Hokanson home.  

Southern Utah chipped away at the lead in the bottom of the third when Ball singled to bring home Mikelle Magalogo to cut the lead to 8-7.

Carosone claimed another RBI in the bottom of the fourth as she knotted the score at 8-8 with a single to left center to bring home MacKenzie Whitten. 

The T-Birds closed out the victory with a three-run spot in the bottom of the sixth to win 11-8. 

Shepherd crushed her second home run of the day with a rocket to left field to also score Hokanson.  Magalogo followed with an RBI of her own when she doubled down the leftfield line to bring home White to clinch the 11-8 victory. 

Payton Goodrich improved to 6-10 on the season in the complete-game triumph.  She collected four strikeouts, seven flyouts and eight groundouts. 

Game 1

In the opener, Sacramento State took an initial 5-0 lead in the top of the first. The squad then tacked on two more runs in the top of the third to take a 7-0 advantage, before running the score to 11-1 in the top of the fifth to close out scoring.

Kalena Shepherd crushed her eighth home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth to account for SUU scoring in the initial contest.  

Makall Whetten went 2-for-2 along another hit-by-pitch for her league-leading 18th time.  

Meanwhile, Gianna Carosone and Skyler Ball also collected hits during the first game. 

Tyler Denhart fell to 8-13 on the season in three innings pitched.  She induced two flyouts and six groundouts in the circle.  Grace Owen pitched two innings in relief in the match. 

Next Up

The Big Sky Conference tournament second seed is on the line during a noon contest tomorrow. 

With Weber State already a lock for the first seed, Southern Utah, Sacramento State and Northern Colorado are all vying for the second spot.

Southern Utah is 9-8 in the league, while Sacramento State moved to 8-9.  Northern Colorado took a pair of losses to Idaho State today to fall to 8-9 as well. A win by SUU clinches the second seed for the T-Birds heading into postseason play. 

Follow Us

Stay up to date during the 2021 Thunderbird Softball season by following @SUUSoftball on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Softball page on Facebook.