CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah Softball team Finished the opening weekend of WAC conference play with a 4-3 win over UT Arlington. The Thunderbirds improved to 4-14 on the season with the win, while the Mavericks dropped to 11-13. The win signals the first WAC conference victory for the Thunderbirds who joined the conference this season.
GAME RECAP
The Mavericks fired up the offense early in the game when Meagan Smith singled on a 1-2 count, scoring one run. UTA had a big first inning which was driven by singles by Smith and Valerie Ornelas and Ashleigh Sgambelluri.
The T-Birds would start the comeback in the third inning when junior Capri Franzen singled on a line drive to center field, scoring junior shortstop Miranda Lopez. Southern Utah would add two more runs to tie the game up in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Thunderbirds would score those runs on a passed ball and a hard ground ball single by junior outfielder Allie Laub.
Southern Utah stole the lead late and held on to defeat the University of Texas at Arlington 4-3 on Saturday. The game was tied at three with the Thunderbirds batting in the bottom of the fifth when sophomore second baseman Jayne Sepulveda singled on a 3-0 count, scoring one run.
Sophomore Keimon Winston got the start in the game but the win went to redshirt senior Payton Goodrich who pitched two innings and collected three strikeouts in the combined effort for the Thunderbird pitching staff. Junior Shelby Basso also spent three innings on the rubber, striking out two and giving up three hits but holding the Mavericks scoreless. Freshman Riley Nielson recorded the last three outs to earn the save for the T-Birds.
Tamya Waiters started the game for UT Arlington. The pitcher lasted six innings, allowing seven hits and four runs while striking out one.
Junior Capri Franzen led the Thunderbirds with two hits in three at-bats. Franzen, Sepulveda, and Laub picked up the RBIs for SUU in the victory.
NEXT UP
The Thunderbirds will continue the WAC regular season play next Saturday on the road. Southern Utah will travel to Texas and take on Abilene Christian University in a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. MT on Saturday and finish with a single game on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. MT.
FOLLOW US
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.
