NJCAA Day 2: HR derby for defending champs as Butler sends 7 deep

Written by Andy Griffin
May 19, 2017
San Jacinto vs. Salt Lake, Softball, St. George, UT, May 18, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Oh no she didn’t … oh yes she did!

Butler’s Becca Schulte hit three home runs and knocked home an astounding eight RBIs as the Grizzlies buried Howard (Tex.) 15-3 Thursday in the second round of the NJCAA national softball tournament at the Canyons Complex in St. George.

Schulte, a sophomore who was on last season’s all-tournament team with the champion Grizzlies, hit a two-run bomb in the first inning, socked a grand slam in the second inning and then rocketed a two-run blast in the third. With the lead already 13-1, the Butler coaches pinch hit for Schulte in the fifth.

The 55-1 Grizz will play Central Arizona (52-9) at noon Friday to try and qualify for Friday evening’s quarterfinals. CAC defeated Chipola (Fla.) 2-0 on a shutout by Kyrsten Garcia.

On the other side of the winners bracket, Lake Land (Ill.), 56-12, beat Florida Southwestern State 16-8. The Lakers will battle Salt Lake Community College (51-6), the No. 2 -ranked team in the last NJCAA poll. SLCC advanced with a 5-2 win over San Jacinto-South (Texas).

SJSC stayed alive with an elimination win over Tyler (Texas) later Thursday. Other survivors in the elimination bracket were Florida SW State, NE Oklahoma A&M and Howard.

Play continues through Saturday at the NJCAA Championships at Canyons.

NJCAA Bracket

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About the Author

Andy Griffin Andy Griffin has been in sports media since 1989 and has covered BYU, Utah State and the Utah Jazz as well as all sports in southern Utah. A journalism graduate of USU, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m. Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 28 years and has five children ages 13 to 25.

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