CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Thunderbirds will continue WAC play with their final home series of the season against Utah Tech. The series will begin Saturday, April 29 with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m. MT. The series will wrap up Sunday, April 30, with a single game at 12:00 p.m. MT. The games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats can be found at suutbirds.com.

GAME INFORMATION

Southern Utah vs. Utah Tech

Friday, April 21, 2023 - Saturday, April 22, 2023

SUU vs. UTU: 1:00 p.m. MT Saturday

SUU vs. UTU: 3:00 p.m. MT Saturday

SUU vs. UTU: 12:00 p.m. MT Sunday

Stream: ESPN+

Stats: suutbirds.com 

SENIOR DAY

Southern Utah will use the weekend series to honor their seniors who graduate this spring. The seniors on the team are Payton Goodrich, Grace Owen, Josey White, and Madison Sanders. These incredible seniors will be recognized at the conclusion of the series finale on Sunday afternoon. 

SOUTHERN UTAH

The Thunderbirds will look to improve this week as they take on the rivals to the south.  Southern Utah is coming off a trio of tough losses at Utah Valley.

Southern Utah has been led on offense by Freshman infielder Emily Gonzalez. Gonzalez has driven five doubles and six home runs on her way to a .398 batting average. Gonzalez leads the team with 22 RBIs this year. Junior shortstop Miranda Lopez has shot up the batting average ranks over the last few weeks climbing to a .306. Sophomore second baseman Jayne Sepulveda is also swinging the bat well with a batting average of .295. Sepulveda smacked a big-time home run in game two of the series at Seattle. 

Redshirt Senior Payton Goodrich has steadily improved over the course of the season and is now leading the team with a 4.67 ERA. Goodrich collected her first win of the season against Stephen F Austin.  Sophomore pitcher Keimon Winston leads the team with 26 strikeouts on the season and has built a 3-8 record on the year. 

UTAH TECH TRAILBLAZERS

The Trailblazers are 3-1 in their last four games and are coming off a road loss at BYU. Utah Tech swept WAC opponent California Baptist at home last weekend. 

The Trailblazers are led at the plate by Tanya Windle, who is hitting .447 with 63 hits, including eight doubles, five triples, and two home runs. In the power category, Lauren Almeida is the star with a slugging percentage of .656 and team leading 21 extra-base hits including a triple and five home runs. Hannah Hughbanks leads the team with 38 RBIs.

In the circle, the Trailblazers' ace is Sauren Garton. She has pitched in 20 games compiling two shutouts and seven complete games. Garton has a team-best 2.91 ERA while holding batters to a .253 batting average over 98.2 innings.

LAST TIME OUT- SUU vs UVU

The Southern Utah Softball team fell in the final two games of the series with Utah Valley 10-2 and 11-3. 

In game one, the Thunderbirds trailed by six runs in the top of the fourth inning when Capri Franzen stepped to the plate and drove a home run to left center field. Amyah Boostedt followed that up with a double down the left-field line and was then driven in by Sophia Masut. The Wolverine offense wouldn't slow down though, adding two runs in the bottom of the fourth and finishing the game with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. 

In game two, the Thunderbirds got the scoring started early in the top of the first when Freshman Riley Nielson drove third baseman Emily Gonzalez across the plate with a single to right center field. Utah Valley would answer back in the home half of the first inning, scoring a run and tying the game at one. Southern Utah second baseman, Jayne Sepulveda hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the second scoring Alayah Toscano. Allie Laub then singled to left field to score junior shortstop Miranda Lopez. The Wolverines took the lead back with a big third inning scoring five runs and added three runs in the fourth. Utah Valley finished the game in the sixth with two more runs. 

Lopez led the Thunderbirds at the plate with three hits on the day. The home run by Franzen was her second of the series. 

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.