SUU campus briefs

BASEBALL: The Thunderbirds used a four-run sixth inning to take its first lead of the game, but swapped the lead with the Golden Grizzlies five times down the stretch and ultimately fell on the road 13-12 at Rochester, Mich. The Thunderbirds are now tied for fourth place in the Summit League with the IPFW Mastodons with a conference record of 11-13.

SUU was down early as OU opened the first two innings with three runs before the T-Birds broke through with a run in the top of the third. D.J. Andrade and Bo Cuthbertson led off the inning with a pair of singles, but it wasn't until a wild pitch and ground ball by Matt Sanford that Cuthbertson crossed home plate.

The Grizzlies answered with two runs in the home half of the inning, but Southern Utah tried to keep pace on an RBI double by Levi Swenson in the fourth to bring the game to 5-2. The three-run margin doubled as Oakland scored three in the bottom of the fourth to stretch the lead to 8-2.

It was then that Southern Utah began a comeback, scoring three runs on five hits in the top of the fifth, including a double by Cuthbertson to move the sophomore to within one of the single-season school record.

Four more runs crossed the plate in the top of the sixth as the Thunderbirds opened the frame with four consecutive singles with each athlete, Swenson, Andrade, Cuthbertson and Marcus Romero scoring later in the inning. The output gave SUU its first lead of the game at 9-8, but it was short lived as OU answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead, 10-9.

Southern Utah answered with runs of its own as Mitchell Kauweloa powered a two-run home run to left field to give the Thunderbirds a 11-10 advantage. The lead held through the bottom of the eighth inning until Oakland tied the game on an RBI single, squaring the game up 11-11.

Slopping fielding and an errant throw in the top of the ninth inning led to Southern Utah's go-ahead run, but an SUU fielding error in the bottom of the ninth ultimately allowed the Grizzlies to score the second run of the frame, leading to the 13-12 defeat.

The two teams will take to the field again Friday afternoon for a doubleheader. Game one of the two-game set is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. MT.