This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Southern Utah women's softball program celebrated its first season in the Big Sky Conference with a third place finish and a spot in the league championship, which begins Thursday in Pocatello, Idaho, home of conference champion and tournament host Idaho State.
The top four teams compete for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Southern Utah (16-32, 9-6 BSC) plays second seed Portland State (22-29, 14-4) at 1 p.m., followed by Idaho State (28-21, 14-4) and the fourth-seeded Sacramento State (22-20, 7-8) at 4 p.m. The winners meet Friday at 10 a.m., with a loser-out game at 1 p.m. At 4 p.m., the loser of game 3 meets the winner of game 4 in an elimination game.
The final of the double-elimination tournament is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday with a second game, if needed, at 4 p.m.
Southern Utah, led by Mikkel Griffin and Kadi Henderson, is making its third consecutive conference tournament appearance, having been to the Summit League Tournament the last two seasons.
Griffin and Henderson each have six home runs, while Griffin is batting a team-high .318.