Box Score
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Feb. 27 - Southern Utah's Brock Westphal knocked a grand slam home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Thunderbirds' what appeared to be a 14-11 lead, but umpires ruled that he had run past the base runner on first, resulting in only a 13-11 advantage. The ruling would prove costly as Utah Valley tied the game at 13-13 in the top of the ninth and then scored six runs in the top of the 13th to steal the 19-13 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The beginning of the day mirrored the end as Southern Utah surrendered ten runs over the first two innings to fall behind 10-1 after the opening frames. SUU recorded its lone run on an RBI single by Tyler Hogge in the bottom of the first before finding more runs in the bottom of the third.
Bucky Aona started the scoring in the third with a solo home run and was followed by Hogge with single and Westphal getting on base after being hit by a pitch. Taylor Shaw made the most of the opportunity with two men on to clear the bases with a two-run double to chip into the Utah Valley lead and to bring the score to 10-4.
Another run by UVU in the top of the fourth gave the Wolverines a 10-5 lead, but runs by Southern Utah in the bottom of the fifth, seventh and eighth innings turned the tide to give the T-Birds the 13-11 lead.
Shaw recorded his fourth of five RBI on the day with a two-run home run in the fifth to pull the T-Birds to 11-6. An RBI walk by Westphal began a four-run frame for Southern Utah in the seventh inning as Shaw recorded another RBI single while Hogge and Westphal crossed the plate to bring the margin to 11-10.
Westphal's grand slam, that was ultimately rule a three-run single, gave Southern Utah the 13-11 lead, but it was the final runs to cross the plate for the T-Birds during the afternoon. Utah Valley tied the game in the ninth on an SUU error, one of four that ultimately led to runs for the Wolverines and one of six on the day, and then stole the victory with six runs in the top of the 13th.
Kelsey Outram was given the loss, despite a strong 5.1 innings of relief in which the sophomore threw close to 100 pitches coming out of the bullpen. Utah Valley's Craig Brimhall was given the victory in 5.2 innings of relief.
Southern Utah will now have a two week break before taking to the field again, when the Thunderbirds will host the Kennesaw State Owls in Cedar City on March 12 and 13. The two teams are scheduled to play a three-game series with game one beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Friday with a doubleheader to follow on Saturday.
