OCR Text |
Show Soft bailers fifth in nation By MIKE CANNON Record Reporter The highest team finish by any Southern Utah State College athletic team in NAIA national competition was achieved by the SU softball team in Hunt-sville, Hunt-sville, Texas last weekend. The lady 'Birds finished fifth nationally in the keenly competitive tournament, picking up three wins against two loses. Pitching was a key factor in the SU success. "Our pitchers pitched very well" commented SUSC Coach Bruce Osborne. "However two pitchers is just not enough to get through a tournament like that." SUSC pitchers carried a large burden in the tourney because several games were played back-to-back, and there was one 14-inning marathon encounter. Despite this they held up well. In game one the Thunderbirds totally dominated Wiley College, of Texas, 12-0. The game was called at the end of five innings because of the ten-run rule. Lori McCurdy pitched a powerful one-hitter in blanking the Texas team. SU banged out 10 hits in the contest. The second game in the winners bracket was a heart-breaker for Southern Utah. Pittsburg State, from Kansas, defeated the 'Birds 6-5. Shauna Meecham threw a six-hitter, but gave up five costly walks in the losing effort. SUSC lead threw four innings but couldn't hold-off the Kansas team. "That's a game we should have won" said Osborne. "A couple of costly errors hurt us." The loss moved Southern Utah State into the 1 losers bracket. They then defeated Mesa College 3-2 in 14 innings. Southern ,Utah smacked 14 hits and McCurdy allowed only seven while going the distance on the mound. In game four, SUSC Overcame Wisconsin Parkside by a 7-5 score. 1 Shauna Meecham ' allowed two hits and 1 picked up the win. A fifth game with a Kansas team from Emporia eliminated SU from the tournament, but not without a battle. The number two seeded Emporia took a 1-0 squeaker. . Each team collected a mere two hits, however one was a homerun for Emporia. Southern Utah played errorless ball in i the contest. The last five tournament tour-nament games, including SUSC's loss to Emporia, were all one-run decisions. Emporia went on to finish second in the nation while Southern Utah ended up fifth. 'Bird leftfielder Joyce Hickman was named to the all-tournament team. The outstanding national finish provides a strong foundation for next year's team. "We only lose three seniors this year" said a very pleased Osborne. SU finished the year with a 31-8 overall record. |