The Southern Utah Thunderbirds women’s softball team will travel to Texas this week to compete against Tarleton State, with the series beginning on Friday, April 10, with a doubleheader at 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time and continuing on Saturday, April 11. Live statistics will be available through the schedule link at suutbirds.com, and games are set to be broadcast on ESPN+.
This matchup is significant as both teams look to improve their conference records during the season. Southern Utah enters the series after a bye week with a conference record of 2-4 and an overall record of 16-20. Tarleton State holds a 25-17 overall record and is even at 3-3 in Western Athletic Conference play.
Southern Utah’s pitching staff has relied heavily on sophomore Hannah Duncan, who has logged over seventy-two innings across twenty appearances and eleven starts while recording four complete games and three saves. Freshman Avery Nielson leads the team in wins with five and has also added three saves over fifty-four innings pitched. Veterans Riley Nielson and Delaney Baker have each contributed more than forty innings, combining for forty-five strikeouts.
On offense, junior infielder Arianna Ramirez leads Southern Utah with a .339 batting average, thirty-nine hits, nineteen runs batted in (RBIs), and a .382 on-base percentage. Junior outfielder Taralyn Ollison follows closely behind with a .331 average and leads the team in doubles. Freshman McKenzy Becerra provides power hitting with five home runs and twenty-one RBIs along with a .505 slugging percentage.
Tarleton State brings depth throughout its lineup led by Mikayla Wilson’s .366 batting average. Casey Schultz supplies much of the team’s power offense with six home runs this season while Jaelynn Duke leads in RBIs at thirty-eight. In pitching, Shelby Schultz stands out as ace for Tarleton State having compiled ten wins over ninety-three innings pitched along with seventy-four strikeouts.
