Top ten moments in Southern Utah athletics: 2013

With the school year coming to a close, it's time to take a look back at the top ten sports moments of the year. There were a lot of really fantastic moments that occurred this year so I had to narrow the list down, but I tried to make it the most memorable events of the year.   

10. Softball rallies from an 11-4 deficit to shock Northern Colorado and secure their first ever Big Sky tournament bid.

The T-Birds came into the series against the Bears with a chance to host the inaugural Big Sky tournament if they could sweep UNC, and have Portland State and Idaho State lose a game, but that isn’t how it turned out. UNC won game one of the series 7-6 and sent the T-Birds into a must-win contest in game two. Game two of the series couldn’t have gone any worse for the T-Birds as they went down 11-4 after the top half of the fifth inning.

The T-Birds’ bats proceeded to come alive after that as they scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to turn the deficit into an 11-10 game after a two-out bases clearing double by Kadi Henderson.

After the scoring barrage in the fifth, the T-Birds turned to sophomore Ashley Ostler down two with the bottom of the Bears’ order coming to the plate.

Ostler sat the Bears down in order on seven pitches to send the T-Birds into the bottom of the sixth only down two.

The bottom of the sixth started off strong for the T-Birds as they put runners on first and second with one out, but then saw Kellie Hales ground into a near game-ending double play for the second out. That is when the T-Birds got the luckiest break of the day when Kylee Wolf appeared to fly out to right to end the threat, but the Bears’ right fielder lost the ball in the sun, which allowed a run to score and keep the inning going.

Following a four pitch walk to Mikkel Griffin, designated player Kelsey Bryant sent the first pitch she saw into center field for a two-RBI single to take the lead.

The best moment of the game happened in the top of the seventh when T-Bird starting pitcher Danielle Axe came back into the game to record the save. A few hours after, the team honored her family after her father passed away from cancer earlier in April.          

9. Springall breaks the school heptathlon record in back-to-back meets.

Shaye Maurer-Springal came into the year already holding the T-Bird record for the heptathlon with a 5111, but the senior proceed to shatter that score at the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. on April 20, with a score of 5201. She wasted little time in re-breaking that record a week later at the BYU Invitational when she broke into the top 25 in the country for the event with a 5341.

Breaking your own school record is cool enough, but to do it twice in back-to-back weekends and then, with the second race, rank nationally out of 2000 Division 1 athletes is incredible.

8. Women’s basketball wins in 2 OT against North Dakota

This is the first of two women’s basketball moments from this year on the list, and this one had all the drama that the final game of a season could hope for. With the T-Birds battling for a postseason berth, they jumped out to an early 21 point advantage and held that lead throughout much of the game, only to see that lead slip away in the final moments off the game as UND tied it at 74 on a three point play and the T-Birds failed to get a shot off in the final 10 seconds of regulation.

The first overtime was just as entertaining as regulation as both teams battled before UND took a one point lead with 25 second to play forcing the T-Birds to play catch up for the first time all night.

The team did not disappoint as Carli Moreland got the ball on the block and was followed to set up a potential game winning pair of free throws.

Moreland only came up with one of two to tie the game, and UND failed on its attempt at a game winner to send it into double overtime.

The second overtime continued the same trend as Moreland went to the line and put the T-Birds up by one only to see UND knock in a pair of free throws of their own to give them a 93-92 lead with barely any time left on the clock.

SUU had one last opportunity to pull out the victory and handed the ball to guard Sofia Hepworth. Hepworth drove the ball to the baseline before pulling up for a shot that clanged around the rim before finally settling home and giving the T-Birds the victory.   

7. A.J. Hess steals the inbounds against Northern Colorado to win the game.

This is a game not many people saw because it was in the middle of Christmas break, but it introduced the fans to freshman A.J. Hess.

With the T-Birds trailing by one and the ball being taking out underneath their own basket, the freshman stole the UNC inbound’s pass and found a streaking Wade Collie, who laid it up and in for the game winning layup with 14 seconds to play.

6. Women’s basketball scores 10 points in the final 60 seconds to defeat Portland State in O.T.

This is a also a game many T-Bird fans didn’t get a chance to see as it was a road contest, but it was one of the best performances I have ever seen from a team.

The T-Birds struggled much of the night against the Vikings, but managed to tie the game on a Kimi Hawkins free throw as time expired in regulation.

The overtime period couldn’t have been much worse for the T-Birds, as over the first four minutes PSU built an eight point lead and left the T-Birds with almost no time to mount a comeback.

The T-Birds then ramped up their defense and forced 5 turnovers over the last minute and scored 10 unanswered points capped by an Andrea Jones layup with four second to play to secure the win and take the improbable victory.

5. T-Birds end Northern Arizona’s perfect Big Sky season in triple overtime.

At this point in the football season, the T-Birds were already well aware that the post season was out of reach for a team that came into the year with high hopes. For Northern Arizona, a win meant a Big Sky Championship and a trip to the postseason were all but assured.

The game was a back and forth contest as each team attempted to throw the knockout punch, but neither team would give in as kicker Colton Cook tied the game at 19 for the T-Birds as time expired.

Both teams excelled in the first two overtime periods as Brad Sorensen scored on a quarterback draw and found Fatu Maola for a touchdown only to have NAU answer with a pair of touchdown passes of their own.

The third overtime was all T-Birds, however, as Sorensen found Easton Pedersen for a 22-yard touchdown and Cody Larsen came up with a sack on fourth down to secure the win for SUU.   

4. Volleyball rallies from 2-0 deficit for first time in school history to beat North Dakota on Senior night.

The final home game of Cashaana Renfro and Analaine Mailoto stellar T-Bird careers couldn’t have started off any worse as the T-Birds dropped the first set of the match in quick order. SUU rallied in the second set but still fell 29-27 to drop them in an 0-2 hole, something the team had never come back from in school history.

The T-Birds didn’t panic and took the next two sets in relative safe convincing order to even the match at two sets apiece.

The fifth and final looked as if the T-Birds’ comeback would fall short as North Dakota took a 10-7 lead midway through the set, but SUU came back on a 5-1 run to retake the lead. The game and the improbable comeback were finished off by a Renfro block and the T-Birds made history.

3. Stacey Brinkman hits season-ending, game-winning, record-setting goal against Cal State Bakersfield.  

The T-Bird soccer team’s first season in the Big Sky Conference didn’t go as most on the team had hoped, but the final game of the year gave the T-Birds something to shoot for.

Fifth year senior Stacey Brinkman came into the game in a tie for the career lead in goals scored with 18 and needed to find the back of the net to end the season on a high note.

Senior day started off well for the T-Birds as fellow seniors Missy Lazcano and Amanda Humphreys each notched a goal for the T-Birds but the teams ended up tied through regulation and the first overtime period.

That is when Brinkman got her shot as freshman Madison Wood was fouled just outside the 18-yard box to set up a free kick.

She wasted little time to set up the shot and fired a perfect volley into the back of the net to send the seniors off in style and take the game for the T-Birds.

2. T-Bird football defeats #1 Eastern Washington on last second field goal

The T-Birds found themselves in one of the toughest test of the season when the No. 1 ranked team in the FCS Eastern Washington traveled to Cedar City.

The Eagles came into the game with a five-game winning streak on the line and the T-Birds had just lost to in-state rival Weber State the week before.

Neither team played its best game of the season, but it was entertaining as the teams played neck and neck the entire game.

The T-Birds ended up with the ball last and drove the clock down to under ten seconds when kicker Colton Cook step up to take a last second field goal. The junior boomed a 36-yarder through the uprights to give the T-Birds the victory and send Eastern Washington home packing.

The game also marked the final home game of the season for SUU and the first time the school had defeated the No. 1 team in the country.

1. Brad Sorensen gets drafted in the seventh round of the NFL Draft to the San Diego Chargers.

Zero, the number of T-Birds that had been drafted into the NFL prior to 2013, but in the seventh round of the draft the San Diego Chargers and Brad Sorensen made history as the record setting quarterback was selected with the 221 overall selection.

Sorensen set numerous career records for the T-Birds during his three years as the T-Birds’ starter, but records are made to be broken and someone will come along to break Sorensen’s record. However, the first person to be drafted by an NFL team is something that will never go away and will stay with him forever.

The T-Birds’ football team will continue to play, and thanks to this year’s draft may see an influx of talented players because of the exposure that Sorensen provided.