FULLERTON, California – The Southern Utah Softball had a historic start to the 2024 campaign, going 4-1 in the opening weekend. This marks the best start for the Thunderbirds since 2004. SUU took down the University of Illinois at Chicago 4-0 on Sunday morning before capping the tournament off with a 6-2 win over the University of the Pacific in the afternoon tilt.
Over the weekend, the Thunderbirds swept both UIC and Pacific, with the only loss coming against an experienced Colorado State team. Junior Karmyna Becerra had a great weekend at the plate, hitting .444 and scoring eight total hits. Junior Ariyana Miranda belted two home runs on the weekend and accounted for 6 RBIs en route to a .313 batting average. Senior Bella Garcia had four RBIs and hit .444 on the weekend.
The Thunderbirds' pitching staff had a great tournament, posting a 2.47 ERA through five games. Freshman Emily Delgado pitched 13.2 shutout innings this weekend and led the team so far with an impressive 12 strikeouts. Despite a tough outing against Colorado State junior Keimon Winston finished the weekend with an impressive 2-1 record in the circle.
700 Career Wins for Coach Williams
The weekend's final game earned Coach Don Don Williams her 700th career coaching victory. Coach Williams, who has been at Southern Utah since 2019, was a long-time coach at Northern Idaho College and has had a very successful career. Congratulations to Coach Williams and the Thunderbirds, who earned season sweeps over UIC and Pacific.
Coach Don Don Williams Said
"The team did a great job earning these wins this weekend. Our pitching staff commanded the zone. The defense made some crucial outs, and our offense took advantage of scoring opportunities. This team is fun to coach."
Recap Game 1
There was limited offense in the Sunday morning contest between the Thunderbirds and the Flames, but Southern Utah would come out on top due to an exciting first inning.
The first inning was a flurry of hits for the T-Birds as Becerra, Emily Gonzalez, and Riley Nielson each singled. Garcia stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and bashed a grand slam to put the Thunderbirds up 4-0. The rest of the game flew by as Delgado pitched a complete game shutout. Delgado threw seven innings, giving up just three hits and striking out six.
Recap Game 2
The second game of the day started off with the University of the Pacific scoring a run in the top of the first inning. Not to be deterred, the Thunderbirds would answer in the bottom of the frame when Ariyana Miranda belted a double to right center, scoring Gonzalez and Becerra. The Thunderbirds would capitalize on back-to-back errors by the Tigers to score two more runs and push the lead to 4-1. Winston would shut the Tigers down from the circle for the majority of the game.
Pacific pulled within two runs in the top of the sixth inning off a solo home run. Southern Utah would once again bounce back in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run by Sophomore Shelby Basso and an RBI double by Gonzalez to extend the lead to 6-2. Southern Utah would hold on for the win, with freshman Delaney Baker earning her first save as a T-Bird.
Next Up
The Thunderbirds travel back to California next week to take on a variety of teams at the Torero Classic in San Diego. Southern Utah will square off with Colorado State and Long Island University in a doubleheader on Friday, February 16, beginning at 10:00 a.m. MT.
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