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OGDEN, Utah (April 21, 2017) – Friday’s softball action was full of great games as Southern Utah moved into the hunt for the Big Sky Conference regular season crown while Northern Colorado earned a home sweep to start its weekend series with North Dakota.
Northern Colorado (18-30, 6-8 BSC) racked up 24 total bases as the Bears picked up a 16-1 and 2-1 win over North Dakota (19-27, 5-8 BSC) in Greeley, Colo. Rachel Johnson went 3-for-6 on the day with a double, triple, two runs, three RBI and the game-winning hit in game two. UNC rode a nine-run first inning and a tandem effort by Jayme Reddacliff, who earned the win, and Valerie Vidal in the circle in game one.
In game two, the Bears used the same pitching duo with Reddacliff throwing seven innings of one-run softball before Vidal picked up the win in relief. Johnson stepped up big for UNC in the final winning with a two-out RBI double that scored Kaley Garcia for the win.
Southern Utah (13-23, 9-5 BSC) started off its final home stand of the season with a pair of wins over Sacramento State (14-25-1, 4-9 BSC). SUU took game one 9-3 with six runs coming in the bottom of the sixth. Hanna Wynn went the distance in the circle for the T-Birds to earn the game one victory and improve to 3-7 on the year.
Sacramento State's Traci Shaw hit a home run in the top of the seventh to tie the score at 7-7 in game two but Southern Utah's Kendall Kapitzke blasted a one-out walk-off homer to give the Thunderbirds the 8-7 win.
Weber State (25-14-1, 9-3 BSC) moved into a tie for first place in the conference standings with a 2-1 win at Idaho State (12-20, 5-7 BSC). ISU starter, Ashlyn Ames, held the Wildcats to just four hits but a pair of runs in the top of the fifth gave WSU the win. Kirtlyn Bohling picked up the win with four innings of one-run action while Tatiana Su'esu'e earned her second save of the year.
Idaho State and Weber State will play a doubleheader tomorrow to conclude the series. Friday’s idle teams, Montana and Portland State, will begin a three-game series in Hillsboro, Ore., tomorrow at 1 p.m. Pacific.