LAS VEGAS, Nevada- The Thunderbirds softball team battled to its first win on Sunday, taking down the University of Nevada Las Vegas 6-4. The T-Birds have continued to grow throughout the weekend and finished the Rebel Kickoff with an exciting win.
Southern Utah played against three different teams on the weekend and finished with a 4-1 record. Freshman Emily Gonzalez led the offensive effort this weekend racking up a .538 batting average and driving in three of the T-Birds' 12 runs. Sophomore infielder Jayne Sepulveda, who led the team last season in many categories continued to be a big part of the offense totaling eight hits in the tournament.
Junior infielder Miranda Lopez added 4 hits on the weekend for a .364 batting average and crossed the plate three times. Josey White, the redshirt senior infielder posted three hits and three RBIs for the tournament and senior first baseman Madison Sanders notched the first home run of the season for Southern Utah.
In the circle Coach Don Don Williams looked to the combination of sophomore Keimon Winston and redshirt senior Payton Goodrich. Goodrich finished the weekend having pitched 7 innings and posting a 6.00 ERA, nearly two runs lower than her average from last season.
The Improvement doesn't stop there as Winston recorded 10.1 innings and an ERA of just over four. The Thunderbirds gave a solid defensive effort over the weekend to help keep the team in striking distance in every game. Southern Utah who had 13 errors in the season-opening tournament last year only committed 3 errors this weekend.
COACH DON DON WILLIAMS SAYS…
"Today was a quality team win against a quality opponent. This weekend's schedule was a tough weekend to open up with. The team showed a lot of perseverance and grit."
SUU VS. UNLV
The Thunderbirds opened up scoring in the second inning when Alayah Toscano drove in Lopez with a single. White extended the lead by knocking in Sepulveda and Toscano with a single that dropped in behind the first baseman.
The Rebels got one run back in the bottom of the fourth inning but the Thunderbirds would respond with a big 3 run fifth. The runs came when Gonzalez hit a hard ground ball up the middle of the field to score White. That was followed by a pinch-hit double by junior infielder Capri Franzen which plated Gonzalez and Sanders.
Looking to complete its second comeback of the day, UNLV scored a pair of runs in the bottom half of the sixth and one in the seventh. The comeback fell short however as the Thunderbirds held on to win the game 6-4.
Keimon Winston pitched Southern Utah to victory. The ace went four innings, allowing one run on four hits and striking out two. Riley Nielson threw three innings in relief out of the bullpen.
Alanna Thiede took the loss for UNLV. The hurler surrendered three runs on four hits over four innings, striking out three.
SUU had eight hits in the game. Sepulveda and Gonzalez managed multiple hits for the Thunderbirds. Sepulveda led the T-Birds with three hits in four at-bats. Southern Utah didn't commit a single error in the field during the contest.
NEXT UP
The Thunderbirds will continue the season next weekend when they travel to California for a three-game series against UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos will host the T-Birds for a doubleheader on Friday and a single game on Saturday afternoon
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Stay up to date on the Thunderbird Softball team by following @SUUSoftball on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah softball page on Facebook.
