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Utah Tech University Athletics

softball team 2013
Julie Buchanan Photography

Softball Jeff Cluff, Coordinator of Media Relations

Storm Welcome Southern Utah (Game Notes)

Dixie State vs. Southern Utah
April 2, 2013
Karl Brooks Field | Saint George, UT

Tuesday: 3 & 5:30 pm
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/dixie/softball

Series: DSU leads series 11-7
Last Meeting: April 13, 2011 at Cedar City, UT | Southern Utah won 10-1 (5)

Dixie State 26-11 (16-6 PWC) 
Roster | Schedule & Results | Stats

Southern Utah 9-23 (3-3 Big Sky) 
Roster | Schedule & Results | Stats

Non-Conference Series
Dixie State returns home for their final 12 games, all at the comfy confines of Karl Brooks Field. The Red Storm welcome Division One rival Southern Utah University from nearby Cedar City, UT. The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3 pm on Tuesday afternoon.

The Series
Karl Brooks Field has been friendly to the Storm when hosting the Thunderbirds. DSU leads the all-time series 11-7 and is 9-2 at home. DSU defeated SUU last at home 4-3 on 3/22/11, but lost to the Thunderbirds on 4/13/11 in Cedar City 10-1 in five innings. DSU had won six straight before being defeated.

The Coach
Randy Simkins enters his fifth year as head softball coach of the Red Storm Softball Program for the 2013 season. This will be Simkin's second stint as DSC head softball coach. In 2004, he led the then Rebels to a school best 49-6 record while the school competed as a NJCAA program. 

In just over five years his record is 185-58. He has led the program to three of their four consecutive NCAA regional appearances. In 2012 they fell to the national runner-up UC San Diego in the Western Regionals.
 
Sandwiched between his time as DSU, Simkins was the head coach at Dixie High School. He has spent 15 years as a head softball coach in high school, including six years at Canyon View HS and four at Dixie HS. He also coached boys basketball at Canyon View for three seasons.
 
Simkins and his wife Sharlan have two children, Summer and Shane. He has also adopted their cousins Jarrett, Jillian, Jaselle and Jaxson.

Sweet Southern California??
It was a case of Jekyll and Hyde for the Storm softball team. DSU played six games over three days and won and lost on each of the days and finished with a 3-3 record. The Storm offense appeared in mass by hitting 12 home runs and a .554 hitting percentage. But, the error monster also reared its ugly head. DSU committed eight errors in game for the third time this season and second against Cal St. San Bernardino. 14 total errors in the six games handicapped the Storm and allowed California Baptist and CSUSB to capitalize on the miscues.
 
Johnna Brown (Las Vegas, NV, Centennial ) and Marla Reiter (Rolinda, CA/Central High School) each it three home runs, with Siera Phillips (Mesa, AZ/Red Mountain High School) and Anna Cue (Murrieta Valley, CA/Murrieta Valley High School) adding two more each. Cue continues to have a solid senior season by adding nine hits during the weekend.
 
In the circle, strong performances by Michelle Duncan (Gilbert, AZ/Gilbert High School) helped the Red Storm to two of the three victories. She also pitched eight innings in relief and earned a no decision in the 12-11 extra innings track meet at CSUSB. She ended the weekend with 25.1 inning pitched and a 1.66 ERA.
 
Jaelle Judkins (Saint George, UT/Dixie High School) and Courtney Hine (San Dimas, CA/San Dimas High School) lead DSU inn hitting with a .393 average. Cue leads the team in home runs with 12 and RBI with 38. The Red Storm squad is second in the PacWest in hitting at .327 and fourth at pitching with a 2.56 ERA.

Storm recognized by the PacWest
Junior hurler Mattie Snow (Tooele, UT/Tooele High School) was been selected the seventh Pacific West Conference Pitcher of the Week for 2013.

The conference announced the softball honor on Friday, March 29, for games contested March 11-17.

Snow led the Red Storm to a 6-0 week by recording a 3-0 mark on the mound. She posted three complete-game victories - including one shutout - and turned in a 0.67 earned run average.

During the course of her 20 innings on the mound, Snow struck out 16 batters, allowed just two earned runs, and permitted a .194 batting average.
 
Also recognized for the same week was Kylee Bufton (Spanish Fork, UT/Spanish Fork High School), Nicole Chavez (Chino Hills, CA/Ayala High School), Michelle Duncan (Gilbert, AZ/Gilbert High School) and Sheila Gelter (St. George, UT/Dixie High School).
 
Scouting the Thunderbirds
The Thunderbirds enter the non-conference series with the Red Storm with a record of 9-23. They are fresh off a series win over Idaho State in Cedar City where they two of three in which SUU won 8-7 in walk off style in the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
Saint George native Mikkel Griffin was 5-5 on the day with 2RBI and two runs scored, including the game winning single. Griffin is second in hitting for the Thunderbirds at .314 and is tied for first in home runs with five.
 
Leading hitter Kelsey Bryant is hitting .333 with a team-high nine doubles and 24 RBI.
 
In the circle, a major portion of the innings falls on Ariel Zimmerman who is 6-13 with a 4.41 ERA. She has thrown 119 innings and opponents hit .306 against her. Danielle Axe is 2-7 in 54 innings with a 4.02 ERA.
 
Head coach Kyle Magnusson has been at Southern Utah for three seasons.
 
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