OGDEN, Utah (May 11, 2017) – Southern Utah and Idaho State began play in at the 2017 Big Sky Conference Softball Championship presented by Red Lion Hotels® with wins. No. 4 SUU topped No. 5 North Dakota 7-6 while No. 6 seed Idaho State defeated No. 3 Sacramento State 10-4.
Southern Utah advances to face No. 1 Weber State at 3 p.m. while ISU will take on No. 2 Montana at approximately 5:15 p.m. Sacramento State will open play tomorrow in the tournament’s first elimination game against either WSU or SUU at 9:30 a.m. North Dakota will face the loser of Thursday’s final game at 12 p.m. tomorrow.
Game One – Southern Utah 7, North Dakota 6
Errors were the story of the game in the Big Sky tournament opener as North Dakota and Southern Utah combined for seven errors. UND set a new tournament record with five errors in the game.
North Dakota jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Taylor Nadler drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to center and UND managed two more runs on a SUU fielding error.
Southern Utah battled back in the bottom of the fourth with four runs in the inning. The Thunderbirds took the lead when Emilee Sweet crossed the plate on a UND throwing error.
UND’s Dani Romero tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the sixth with a solo homerun to left field. The Fighting Hawks regained the lead in the top of the seventh when they scored a pair of runs on a SUU fielding error to make it 6-4.
Big Sky Co-Newcomer of the Year, Sarah Murphy played the hero in the bottom of the seventh. With the bases loaded, the outfielder hit a walk-off triple to give SUU the 7-6 win.
Kaylin VanDomelen was pegged with the loss in 6.2 innings of action. She gave up 11 hits and struck out four batters. Cheyenne Cudahy was the winner for SUU in just 0.2 innings while starter, Hanna Wynn went 6.1 innings with four earned runs.
Game Two – Idaho State 10, Sacramento State 4
Emma Bordenkecher got the Bengals on the board in the top of the first with a two-run homer to left field. The blast was her seventh homerun of the season.
The Hornets took a 3-2 lead the bottom of the fifth when Mo Speith connected for a two-RBI two-out double to center field.
ISU’s Alex Portesi got the Bengals back on top with a two-out two-RBI double of her own in the top of the sixth. The Hornets answered with a run in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 4-4 heading into the seventh.
The Bengals’ bats came alive in the top of the seventh Kacie Burnett drove in two runs with a two-out double of her own to get the rally going. Ashlyn Ames followed with a RBI single that plated Burnett. Haley Harrison added three more RBI with a bases-clearing triple to cap the rally and give ISU a 10-4 lead.
Ames would get the Hornets to go down in order for a complete-game win.