CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah Softball team is headed to Texas this weekend to square off with Abilene Christian University for a three-game set. Despite having to move the games to St. George last weekend due to weather and field conditions the Thunderbirds played well going 1-2 against UT Arlington. The Wildcats are coming off a is off a 0-3 weekend against Utah Tech and a single game 8-0 loss to Texas Tech. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday and follow up with a single game on Sunday.
GAME INFORMATION
Southern Utah at ACU
Saturday, March 25, 2023 - Sunday, March 26, 2023
SUU vs. ACU: 1:00 p.m. MT Saturday
SUU vs. ACU: 3:00 p.m. MT Saturday
SUU vs. ACU: 11:30 a.m. MT Sunday
Stream: ESPN+
Stats: suutbirds.com
SOUTHERN UTAH
The Thunderbirds will look to continue improving this weekend, sitting at 4-14 on the young season. The Thunderbirds are coming off their first conference victory as a member of the Western Athletic Conference defeating UT Arlington last Saturday 4-3.
Southern Utah has been led on offense by Freshman infielder Emily Gonzalez. Gonzalez is batting an impressive .423 with two doubles, four home runs, and 12 RBIs. Junior outfielder Allie Laub has raised her average over the last few games to .300 picking up four doubles in the process. Sophomore second baseman Jayne Sepulveda is also swinging the bat well with a batting average of .295.
Freshman Riley Nielsen has earned significant time in the circle for Southern Utah with a team-leading 6.08 ERA. Sophomore pitcher Keimon Winston leads the team with 16 strikeouts on the season. Winston has started several games for the Thunderbirds but has also pitched in relief, throwing her way to a 2-4 record with a save.
ABILENE CHRISTIAN WILDCATS
The Wildcats have played a tough preseason with games against some power five programs. ACU has hit a rough patch, losing the last nine straight contests and being swept in the opening weekend of WAC play by Utah Tech.
The Wildcat offense has been headlined by Avery Miloch and Catrin Hoffman who are batting .318 and .314 respectively. Miloch leads the team in both doubles and home runs with seven of each. The RBI leader for ACU is Sammie Shelander who has driven in 17 runs this year. The Wildcats have been moderately aggressive on the bases with 17 steals on the season.
In the circle, Abilene has relied heavily on Talia Nielsen and Riley White. Nielsen has struck out 31 and walked 15 over 68.2 innings pitched. White leads the team in strikeouts with 37 but also has given up the most walks with 51 over the 73 innings she has pitched this season. As a team, the Wildcats have struggled with giving up home runs having surrendered 33 on the year for an average of just over one per game.
LAST TIME OUT- SUU vs UTA
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.
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