Thunderbirds Sweep Doubleheader with IPFW
CECDAR CITY, Utah, 4/20/12- Southern Utah recorded two wins over visiting IPFW in a doubleheader played on Friday to take a 2-1 advantage in their weekend series with the Mastodons. The Thunderbirds came out on top in a 20-14 slugfest in the day’s opening game and then used an early lead and strong pitching to cruise to a 7-3 victory in the second matchup.
“This was a complete 180 from what we saw from our hitters yesterday,” said SUU interim head coach Clayton Carson. “Their pitcher had the same approach, but we were able to make the necessary adjustments and get good at bats.”
It was apparent that the front end of the doubleheader would have plenty of offense after IPFW shortstop Clay Hathaway sent the first pitch of the contest over the left field wall for a leadoff homerun to give the Mastodons a 1-0 advantage. The lead didn’t hold up for long however as the Thunderbirds put six runs on the board in the bottom half of the frame to jump out in front by a score of 6-1.
SUU shortstop Bo Cuthbertson got things going with a three run blast to centerfield for his second homerun of the series and DJ Andrade added a two run RBI double in his first at bat of the year to put the T-Birds up by five. Jordan Zymola then tacked on an RBI single up the middle to make the count 6-1 after just the first inning.
Southern Utah increased the margin with three more runs in the following inning on a two-run RBI double from Mitchell Kauweloa who was then driven in by Chase Rezac putting SUU up 9-1. The Mastodons cut the deficit over the next four innings after their offense erupted for 12 runs in between the third and sixth innings. Fortunately the Thunderbirds were able to keep pace after notching three runs as Rezac left the yard with two runners on in the third, which was matched by Neuhart as part of a six run fourth inning that helped SUU hold onto a 18-13 edge down the stretch.
The visitors put up one last run in the eighth, but Neuhart recorded his second roundtripper in the seventh and Zymola tallied another RBI single in the eighth to help set the final count at 20-14 in favor of Southern Utah.
The second game of the day took on a much different look as Southern Utah starter Justin Neuhart quickly worked his way through the Mastodon order for his second complete-game win in as many outings. The junior southpaw didn’t allow a run until the final frame after spreading out 10 hits and three strikeouts over seven innings to improve to his record to 5-3 this season. IPFW starter Kyle Sorensen gave up six runs on five hits and seven walks in the first five innings to fall to 1-2 on the year.
“Neubauer really came out strong and set the tone for us,” explained Carson. “It’s nice to get those early runs because when you give him the lead he is going to throw strikes and make it tough to come back.”
The Thunderbirds did most of their scoring early on, collecting six runs in the first two innings. Kauweloa drew a bases loaded walk to put Southern Utah on the board in the bottom of the first and Kevin Kline and Taggart Lunceford each chipped in an RBI singles to give their team four runs in their first trip to the plate. Rezac and Kauweloa then added to more runs in the second to give SUU an advantage of 6-0.
The lead would eventually reach seven on an RBI sac fly from Cuthbertson in the sixth inning. The T-Birds then held off a three-run rally from IPFW in the final frame to take the game by a final score of 7-3.
It was a big day for the Thunderbird batters including designated hitter Chase Rezac who finished the day 5-for-7 at the plate with a homerun, six RBI and five runs scored. SUU got two more homeruns from Neuhart who had four RBI and another from Cuthbertson who drove in five more runs to bring his season total to 31.
With the pair of wins Southern Utah improves it Summit League mark to 6-4 and is now 12-25 on the year. IPFW drops to 4-7 in conference play and 12-26 overall.
The Thunderbirds will look to seal the series win over the Mastodons when the two teams meet in the weekend finale tomorrow at 1 p.m. (MT)
