PHOENIX, Arizona — The Thunderbirds took on day three in Arizona with a pair of matchups against Grand Canyon and Weber State. The T-Birds hung tough with the host team from Phoenix, falling 4-3 on a walkoff. Southern Utah picked up the first win of the season over Weber State, 6-3, in the nightcap.
Alayah Toscano was huge for the Thunderbirds on Saturday, picking up four RBIs on three hits. Multiple Thunderbirds picked up two hits on the day, including Savannah Lira and McKenzy Becerra, who each grabbed a single and a double, with each recording an RBI.
Sophomore Hannah Duncan pitched a clean game against GCU, going 6.2 innings in the effort. Duncan surrendered just five hits on the day, allowing two earned runs. Freshman Avery Nielson earned the win in game two, pitching in relief of her sister Riley Nielson. Avery pitched 4.1 innings, holding the Wildcats scoreless and only allowing two hits.
Coach Don Don Williams Said
"We took a big step forward in how we played the game on both sides of the ball. The energy, the resilience, and the way we responded in key moments showed real growth from this group. Even in a tough walk-off loss, we stayed composed and kept fighting, then carried that momentum into the second game. That's the standard we're building toward, and it was great to see it translate into our first win."
Game 1 Summary
Both teams were held scoreless in the opening frame. Southern Utah worked around an early fielding error, while the T-Birds defense answered with clean outs to keep GCU off the board.
Southern Utah broke through first in the top of the third. Alayah Toscano singled and later scored on a throwing error to give the T-Birds a 1–0 lead. Grand Canyon responded in the bottom half with a triple and an RBI groundout to even the score at 1–1.
Grand Canyon edged ahead in the bottom of the fifth, using a single, a wild pitch, and an RBI groundout to take a 2–1 lead.
Southern Utah was unable to generate offense in the sixth, while the defense limited the damage by stranding a runner in scoring position to keep the deficit at one.
The T-Birds surged in the top of the seventh. After a leadoff single and an error, Alayah Toscano delivered a two-RBI single to put Southern Utah back in front, 3–2. Grand Canyon answered in the bottom half, tying the game on a sacrifice fly before scoring the winning run on a misplayed ball in foul territory, sealing a 4–3 walk-off finish.
Game 2 Summary
Southern Utah struck first in the bottom of the opening inning, capitalizing on an early error and timely hitting to push across runs. McKenzy Becerra delivered an RBI double to bring home the first run, followed by an RBI single from Kassidy Munoz. Savannah Lira capped the inning with an RBI knock down the left-field line as the T-Birds took a quick 3-0 lead.
The Wildcats tied it up in the top of the third inning, stringing together a few hits to score three runs. The game would stay deadlocked at 3-3 until the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Thunderbirds broke things open with a three-run inning. Arianna Ramirez drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on Savannah Lira's double to center. Alayah Toscano delivered the big swing with a two-RBI single up the middle, then SUU kept the line moving with back-to-back singles from Taralyn Ollison and Michael Salvatierra, the latter driving in another run to make the score 6-3.
Avery Neilson and the Thunderbirds defense would shut the Wildcats down in the seventh to hang on for the first win of the season.
On Deck
The Thunderbirds are set to wrap up the tournament with a single game against Weber State on Sunday. The game will begin at 1:00 p.m. MT. The game will not be broadcast, but live stats can be found at suutbirds.com.
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.
Donate
To help support Thunderbird athletics, consider making a donation today! To learn more about how you can support, click here.
