The Weber State University softball team lost the final game in a three-game series with the Southern Utah Thunderbirds on Saturday. The 8-5 loss came as the Wildcats rally fell short in the seventh inning. “It was an off day for us,” said coach Mary Kay Amicone. “We struggled on defense all day long, and we had a few costly errors that led to runs. It shows that we as a team have a lot of room to grow still.”
The Wildcats were first to score on the day as an RBI was driven in by freshman catcher Molly Horne. The first of three costly errors for the Wildcats came in the top of second as two overthrown balls led to several runs from the Thunderbirds, putting the Wildcats down 3-1.
The team fought back, and in the bottom of the second, junior first baseman Krystin Kubo knocked out a two-run homer to tie the game up. Malia Campos hit a sacrifice fly to bring in another runner, putting the Wildcats up 4-3.
Southern Utah was able to tie it up in the fourth inning and then took the lead in the fifth. The Wildcats fought back and tied it up in the sixth off of a two out double from junior third baseman Alyson Kulp, who was able to send a runner home, pushing the game into extra innings.
In the top of the seventh, the errors on defense continued, and the Wildcats gave up three runs, sealing the victory for the Thunderbirds.
“It’s hard when things are going wrong to stay focused,” Kubo said. “This team doesn’t quit, and we were able to bring it back. We know where we went wrong, and we know what we need to do to get better.”
Overall in the series, WSU outplayed SUU in all aspects. On the weekend, the Wildcats out-hit the Thunderbirds 35-17 and, despite losing on Saturday, outscored SUU 20-10.
“As a team, we focus on winning the series,” Amicone said. “And we won this series. Now it’s time to move on to the next series.”
The Wildcats have moved on now to a 28-14 overall standing (9-3 Big Sky) and have fallen to third in the conference standing. Idaho State and Sacramento State lead the conference right now with a 10-2 conference record.
The team moves on to play BYU on Tuesday. That game will be televised on BYUtv at 6 p.m. The team will continue their road trip as they travel to Northern Colorado to play a series.
“This team is amazing; I love playing with all these amazing people,” Horne said. “This team is good, we have fun, and we make the games fun. I hope the entire community can come on out and enjoy a game. It will be worth it.”
