PHOENIX, Arizona — The Thunderbirds were still in Arizona for day two of the season, beginning the GCU Kickoff Classic with a pair of tough games in Phoenix. The T-Birds battled for seven innings with WCC favorite Santa Clara to an 8-3 final. Southern Utah dropped the afternoon game against the host team, Grand Canyon, 17-2. Southern Utah is now 0-4 on the season and will be back in action against GCU and Weber State tomorrow.
Arianna Ramirez was a leader at the plate for the Thunderbirds, picking up two RBIs with four singles on the day. Sophomore Michaella Salvatierra was also good at the plate today, going three for six with two doubles, a triple, and an RBI. Taralyn Ollison added two singles, and freshman McKenzy Becerra contributed a triple and a double.
Coach Don Don Williams Said
""I liked the way we competed, especially offensively in that first game. We had good at-bats, found ways to put pressure on them, and never backed down. Back-to-Back doubleheaders can be tough, but we'll take the lessons from today, clean some things up, and be ready to respond tomorrow."
Game 1 Summary
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore Michaella Salvatierra tripled to lead off before Kassidy Munoz hit her in with a sacrifice fly to give SUU the early 1-0 lead.
Santa Clara bounced right back in the top half of the second, plating two runs on a triple to take the 2-1 advantage.
In the top of the third inning, the Broncos added four more runs to bust the game open and extend the lead to 6-1.
Despite loading up the bases in the bottom half of the frame, the Thunderbirds were unable to score, sending the game to the fifth inning.
Santa Clara added a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth inning to bring the score to 7-1.
Southern Utah got things going in the bottom of the fifth when Taralyn Ollison singled up the middle, followed by Salvatierra, who reached on a hard hit ball to the third baseman. Munoz stepped to the plate and advanced the runners before Arianna Ramirez put a single through the middle to pick up two RBIs and make the score 7-3.
The Broncos responded with a run of their own in the top of the sixth to bring the lead back up to five runs, where it would remain.
Game 2 Summary
Grand Canyon got a quick start in the bottom of the first inning, plating five runs on a grand slam and an RBI single to take the early lead. In the Bottom of the second, they extended the lead to 8-0 with some crafty baserunning and a second home run by Satcher.
In the bottom of the third, the Lopes added another run via the long ball to make the score 9-0.
The Thunderbirds got on the board in the top of the fourth when, with the bases loaded, Isabella Knight was hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Michaella Salvatierra hit a hard ground ball through the left side to score another run and bring the score to 9-2.
The Lopes weren't done scoring, however, extending the lead to 17-2 by the end of the fourth. The lead would hold, ending the game after five innings.
On Deck
The Thunderbirds are set to continue the opening weekend in Arizona, taking on GCU and Weber State on Saturday, and wrapping up the tournament with a single game against Weber State on Sunday. The game against Grand Canyon at 1:15 p.m. will be available to watch on the Mountain West Network.
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