CEDAR CITY, Utah – Roommates Darian Lindsey and Riley Casper each went yard as the Vikings closed out the regular season with a commanding 17-7 win over Southern Utah in five innings Sunday afternoon in Cedar City, Utah. 
 
With the win, Portland State (17-33 overall, 10-10 Big Sky Conference) secured the No. 4 seed in next week's Big Sky Softball Championship Tournament hosted by Weber State in Ogden, Utah. 
 
The Vikings closed out the regular season with a bang, scoring a season-high 17 runs. It was the 17th overall win and 10th league win of the season, both are the most by a Portland State squad since the 2013 season.
 
After dropping a pair of games to Southern Utah Saturday, the Vikings came out aggressive at the plate. They plated a season-high 17 runs on 13 hits with five players recording multiple hits, five scoring multiple runs, and four driving multiple RBIs. 
 
Marissa Bruno continued to excel in her transition to the top of the batting order for the Vikings. She went 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and a career-high four runs batted in Sunday against the Thunderbirds. In five games leading off for PSU, Bruno is hitting .421 with six runs scored and five driven in. She has a .450 on base percentage and a .579 slugging mark. 
 
Darian Lindsey got the Vikings on the board quickly in the top of the first. After Bruno led off the game with a bunt single, Lindsey blasted her fifth home run of the season to make it 2-0. 
 
Portland State added two more runs in the top of the second on a Jessica Flanagan two-run double down the left field line to make it 4-0. Flanagan has been on fire of late at the plate. She is hitting .611 (11-for-18) over her current six-game hitting streak and has raised her batting average from .144 to .258 over that stretch. 
 
The Vikings capitalized on a pair of Southern Utah errors with four more runs in the top of the third inning. Rachel Menlove reached on an error to lead off the inning. Kaela Morrow doubled to deep left to drive in Menlove all the way from first. Morrow moved to third on the throw home and then came in to score when the throw hit off Menlove and went into the SUU dugout. 
 
Two batters later, Ashley Doyle walked to reach base for the second time in the game. Doyle finished the game going 1-for-2 with an RBI and three runs scored. After a strikeout for the second out, Casper took a low and inside pitch and drove it deep over the left field fence for her first career home run. The two-run shot made it an 8-0 PSU lead at the end of the third. 
 
Up 8-0, the Vikings continued to be patient at the plate and look for their pitches. The first eight batters in the top of the fourth reached base safely on three walks and five singles. Six of them came in to score as the Vikings increased their lead to 14-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth. 
 
Alyssa Burk was perfect through the first two innings before working around a pair of hits in the bottom of the third. After the Vikings went up 14-0 in the fourth, Southern Utah came back with three runs in the bottom half to make it 14-3. 
 
The Vikings loaded the bases on a pair of walks and an error in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Bruno cleared the bases with a double to left center to put the Vikings up 17-3 heading to the bottom of the fifth. 
 
Southern Utah plated four runs in the bottom of the fifth but it was not nearly enough as the Vikings took the game 17-7 in five innings.
 
The win locked up the No. 4 seed for Portland State, setting up a first round matchup with No. 5 Montana. The Vikings and Grizzlies will face off in the first game of the tournament at 9:30 a.m. MT on Thursday, May 10. The winner will advance to play No. 1 Sacramento State later in the day. 
 
The winner of the conference tournament will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
All-tournament passes are $25 while single-day passes are $10 for adults and $5 students and seniors. Fans can purchase tickets at the Weber State ticket office located at the Dee Events Center via phone at 801-626-8500 or by visiting weberstatetickets.com.
 
All Big Sky Championship games will air on Pluto TV and WatchBigSky.comwith the exception of Saturday's two games, which will be shown on Eleven Sports.
 
NOTES:

• SO IF Riley Casper hit her first career home run. 
• SO OF Marissa Bruno drove in a career-high 4 RBIs. 
• SO IF Jessica Flanagan is hitting .611 over her current six-game hitting streak. 
• Portland State plated a season-high 17 runs. 
• 17 overall wins and 10 league wins are the most since the 2013 season.