CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Thunderbirds will wrap up WAC play with a road series at Grand Canyon University. The series will begin with a doubleheader Friday, May 5, at 4:30 p.m. MT. The final game of the year for Southern Utah will follow on Saturday, May 6, at 1:00 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats can be found at suutbirds.com.

GAME INFORMATION

Southern Utah at Gran Canyon 

Friday, May 5, 2023 - Saturday, May 6, 2023

SUU vs. GCU: 4:30 p.m. MT Friday

SUU vs. GCU: 6:30 p.m. MT Friday

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

Stream: ESPN+

Stats: suutbirds.com 

COACH DON DON WILLIAMS SAID

"This weekend will be a good challenge for our young team. Grand Canyon is a tough opponent with lots of experience. We are looking forward to the opportunity to come out and compete against the Lopes."

SOUTHERN UTAH

The Thunderbirds will look to finish strong this week as they take on one of the top teams in the conference.  Southern Utah is coming off a trio of tough losses vs Utah Tech.

The Thunderbirds have been led on offense by freshman infielder Emily Gonzalez. Gonzalez has driven five doubles and nine home runs including three last week against Utah Tech. Gonzalez leads the team with a batting average of .408 and 29 RBIs this year. Junior shortstop Miranda Lopez has continued to climb up the batting average ranks over the last few weeks now sitting at .325 on the year. Sophomore second baseman Jayne Sepulveda is also swinging the bat well with a batting average of .289.

Redshirt Senior Payton Goodrich has steadily improved throughout the season and is now leading the team with a 7.68 ERA. Goodrich collected her first win of the season against Stephen F Austin and has pitched well in the last three series' for the Thunderbirds.  Sophomore pitcher Keimon Winston leads the team with 29 strikeouts on the season and has built a 3-9 record on the year. 

GRAND CANYON LOPES

The Lopes are 3-1 in their last four games and have won seven of their last ten games. Grand Canyon took two of three games in their last series with WAC opponent California Baptist on the road. 

The Lopes are led at the plate by Hannah Burnett who is hitting .400 with 59 hits on the year. In the power category, Kristin Fifield has smacked a team-leading 18 home runs. Ramsay Lopez isn't far behind her with 16 home runs and an impressive slugging percentage of .728. Fifield also leads the team with 69 RBIs this season.

In the circle, the Lopes ace is Meghan Golden. She has pitched in 22 games compiling an impressive 105 strikeouts on her way to an 11-2 record. Golden has a team-best 1.89 ERA while holding batters to a .197 batting average over 81.1 innings. The entire pitching staff for Grand Canyon is outstanding however with a team ERA of 2.47.

LAST TIME OUT- SUU vs UTU

The Southern Utah Softball team fell in its final home game of the season. SUU fell behind early and could not recover in a 16-6 loss to Utah Tech on Sunday.

The Thunderbirds scored their first run of the contest on back-to-back doubles by Sophomore Capri Franzen and sophomore catcher Amyah Boostedt. Franzen contributed to the cause again in the third inning when she singled on a line drive to center field, scoring sophomore second baseman Jayne Sepulveda and junior Outfielder Allie Laub. 

Trailing 12-3 in the bottom of the fifth, the Thunderbirds needed to score two runs in order to extend the game. The Thunderbirds picked up three runs to keep the game going. The rally was led by Franzen and freshman outfielder Alayah Toscano and Boostedt who added a double.

Utah Tech would bounce right back scoring runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to finish the game. 

SUU accumulated 10 hits in the game. Franzen, Boostedt, and junior shortstop Miranda Lopez each scored multiple hits for the Thunderbirds. Franzen led the T-Birds with three hits in four at-bats. 

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