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Show 7T !MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1001 PAGE 14 UNIVERSITY JOURNAL SPORTS I- Softball wins home opener -{ - Sollthem Utah ·women's softball split a doubleheader Friday against IUPUI and swept a twin bill Saturday against the Jaguars to open the MidContinent Conference season. In Friday's action IUPUI got the first game 3-2, but the 'Birds stepped up in the second game to win by the mercy rule 11-1 . On Saturday SUU pulled out a 6-2 victory in the opener and dominated in a 10-0 shutout win in the nightcap. -fil.JU improved to 11-20 overall 3-1 in conference play. In Saturday's opener. Southern Utah capitalized on four extra base hils to defeat the Jaguars 6-2. The 'Birds jumped out early to take a 1-0 lead in the first inhing off of a Kelly Grundy single to center field that scored Hana Michiue. The T-Birds stretched the lead ta 2-0 in the third stanza when Grundy doubled in Lacee Leprey. SUU extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth frame off a Shay Stoddard double that scored Anna Leeman. IUPUI fought back in the sixth stanza with a two-run , three-hit inning to cut the lead to 3-2. IUPUl's Lydia Carrasquillo sacrificed in Julie Wooten and Lacy Harris singled in Crissy Vetor. Southern Utah responded to the Jaguar threat with a three-run sixth inning to push its lead to 6-2. SUU started scoring when Joni Bardsley scored from third base on a wild pitch . Lori Shephard then solidifi~d the win with a 2-RBI double to left center that drove in Stoddard and Melanie Heaps. Leprey picked up the victory to improve to 1-1 , while Shephard claimed SUU's first save of the season. In the nightcap, Southern Utah hitters dominated Jaguar pitching with 10 runs off 13 hits and one -error, while SUU 's pitching staff held IUPUI to a one-hit 10-0 shutout. The 'Birds opened up scoring in the third inning when Crystal Bingham collected herfirst RBI of four with a single to center field to score Leprey. SUU then took a 3-0 lead in the fifth frame when Bingham doubled in Stoddard and Bardsley for two more RBI. Southern l.jtah hitting continued to dominate in the sixth stanza to take a 6-0 lead. Leeman drove home Emily Cederholm with a suicide ~queeze. Stoddard then walked with the bases loaded to claim another T-Bird RBI. Bingham drove home her fourth RBI with a single up the middle to score Leeman. The T-Birds then closed out the doubleheader sweep with four runs in the seventh inning to capture the victory 10-0. Cederholm scored on a Jagoar error to begin the final frame scoring spree. Leeman then doubled to right center to drive home Leprey. Grundy then scored on a wild pitch and then Dana Williams walked home Dusti Winward for the final SUU score. Shephard picked up the victory to improve to 5-7. Mandy Flint shut down IUPUI in four innings of relief pitching in which she fanned six batters to move into a tie for most strikeouts ever in a single season by an SUU pitcher. "It hasn't really crossed my mind, • said Flint about her assault Of) SUU 's pitching records. "I'll . actually take a look at the end of the season." Grundy compleJed an outstanding weekend going 9-for- 17 (.529) with one grand slam, three triples, ·two doubles, five runs scored, a 1.76 slugging percentage and nine RBI. ·we wanted to show our depth at pitching." said Head Coach Laurel Simmons. "This was a huge team win ." Southern Utah will now travel to Indiana to continue Mid-Continent Conference action against Valparaiso Mar. 30-31 . The next homestand for the Thunderbirds will be April 6-7 against Oakland. Southern Utah picked up three wins to open Mid-Continent Conference action over the weekend at Thunderbird Field. Track runs in San Diego Classic~ Morgan Southern Utah University' s track and field squad was in action at the San Diego University 23rd annual Aztec Track Classic Mar. 23-24 . · The SUU men swept the 5,000-m race. Zak James took first with a time of 14:20.43, while Curtis Moore finished second at 14:24.67 and M31rk Wright came in third at 14:30.78. • In the men's 3,000-m suu·s Cody Moat finished third with a 8:44.67 time. The men's 3,000-m steeplechase saw suu·s James come in third at 9:26.45. Southern Utah's women's track and field team also had a lot of success in San Diego. SUU's Teresa Rice finished second in the 800-m race with a time of2:13.79. Rice also finished second in the 1,500-m with a 4:38.34 time, while SUU 's Anna Crosby and Kelly Snodgress finished in third and fourth place. Southern Utah's Kelly Miller brought home a first-place finish in the 400-m hurdles with a time of 1 :02.18. • The Thunderbirds' next meet will be Mar. 30-31 at the Arizona State University Invitational in Tempe , Ariz. Tennis .opens Mid-Con- \Nith t\No \Nins The SUU women's tennis team began this season's Mid-Continent Conference action, going 3-0 this weekend in Kansas City, topping Valparaiso and Chicago State Friday and picking up a 6-1 win over IUPUI Saturday to move to 2-0 in Mid-Con play and 4-2 overall. The team picked up a pair of victories Friday, topping Valparaiso 5-2 in a Mid-Con match, then coming back with a 5-0 win over Chicago State in a non-conference game. Katie Payne, Melinda Wilkins, Ashlee Berge and Kelly Patterson picked up wins in the 3-through.S singles spots and the doubles teams of Wilkins and Patterson and Payne and Berge won their double matches in the win over Valparaiso. All four of the winners in the Valpo match won again vs. Chicago State, while Jenn Case picked up a win at second singles. Kendra Gleason and Joanna Pheng did not meet at first singles and with SUU holding a 5-0 lead there were no doubles games played. Saturday, Gleason, Payne, Wilkins. Berge and Patterson all won their singles matches and the Thunderbirds won two of three doubles matches; Gleason and Payne won 8-4 while Wilkins and Patterson won 8-5. The Mid-Con is strong this year and each of the teams have improved this season, said coach Lenny Lee. ·we may struggle to make it in the top four, but we also have a chance to win the conference," Lee said. SUU finished third in the Mid-Con last year during the regular season and third in the conference tournament. SUU is a young team with only one senior on the roster. Melinda Wilkins, the only senior, is this year's team captain. The team also includes three freshman. one sophomore and two juniors. "We will look to our only senior as a source of leadership on and off the court," Lee said. "She is a great natural leader for this young team ." The Mid-Con schedule is set up so that six of the nine teams will each host a dual meet. SUU will host a Mid-Con meetApril 5,6 and 7. Four Mid-Con teams other than SUU will be in action in _Cedar City during those three days. A good performance in the regular season will be one of the keys to success for the Thunderbirds this year. If they can finish near the top of the conference standings they will improve their chances of winning the conference tournament. "There are very few upsets in this game. Once you have won or lost to a team, it is easy to replicate that result," Lee said. The winner of the Mid-Con regular season will have the opportunity to host the conference tournament beginning April 20. Last season every team in the conference played in the conference tournament. This season only the top four schools will qualify for the tournament. "This is a very psychological game," Lee said. "If we are able to play well we may be able to host the tournament.· Southern Utah will return to action Mar. 31 against ·Utah State. SUU will open the season at home on April 5 against Mid-Con foe Chicago State. named to All-District squad Southern Utah gymnast Jayme Morgan has been narped to the 10-athlete Verizon Academic - • All-District VIII Fall/Winter At-Large second team . Morgan, a sophomore from Englewood, Colo., carries a 3.98 cumulative grade point average in business management. She finished the regular season as the Thunderbirds' second-leading all-arounder, with a 38.675 average and ranks second on tne team in both vault and beam average, at 9.618 and 9.673, respectiv~ly. "This is a great honor for Jayme," SUU Coach Scott Bauman said. "She works hard in the classroom and hard in the gym , plus she's a great person . I'm very happy for her and proud of her." Baseball drops three vs. Nev~da Southern Utah's baseball team continues to struggle as it dropped three straight against Nevada at Peccole Park Mar. 23-25. The 'Birds dropped to 1-21 on the season. The Thunderbirds dropped Friday's game 11-2. SUU's iravis Hatch went 3-for-4 in the game with one RBI. In Saturday's action SUU saw the Wolfpack go to the plate 50 times as Nevada scored 27 runs off 27 hits. All nine starters for the Wolfpack got a hit in the game. SUU's Todd Mitchell went 2-for-'4 and scored the T-Birds' lone run in the loss. SUU kept y~sterday's game closer, but still dropped its 15th straight game 8-3 as the Wolfpack swept the three game series. Up next for the 'Birds will be Mid-Con foe Chicago State Mar. 30-31 to open conference action. SUU will also play a non-conference game against BYU at home April 2-3. 1• |