HONOLULU – A late rally in the seventh came up just short as the Portland State Vikings softball team fell to Hawaii 7-5 on Thursday in game one of the Hawaii Invitational at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
Tayler Gunesch got things going early for the Vikings (3-8) after leading off with a double to left field.
Grace Hosman tallied her first career RBI, hitting a single up the middle to score Gunesch. Moments later,
Emily Johansen hit her third home run of the season, scoring two more runs to bring her RBI total to 11 and give the Vikings a 3-0 lead.
The Rainbow Warriors were quick to answer, hitting a lead-off double followed by a triple for their first score of the game. After a hit-by-pitch and single, Hawaii was down 3-2 with the bases loaded by PSU's Sarefine Parrish made it out with the lead, recording a strikeout before a fly-out to Gunesch ended the inning.
The Vikings' bats went quiet after that, going three straight innings without a hit.
Hawaii tied the game in the bottom of the third, hitting a single before eventually scoring on a passed ball and a throwing error to make it 3-3. Portland State finished with three errors on the day while the Warriors finished clean in the field.
Parrish tossed her third complete game of the season for the Vikings, giving up seven runs, four earned, off of 11 hits while collecting three strikeouts.
The Warriors took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the fourth, hitting a two-run homer with two outs to go up 5-3. Hawaii added one run in the fifth and another in the sixth, both coming from errors by the Vikings.
Portland State found some life late in the seventh as
Ariana Abalos came in to pinch hit, leading off with a single.
Hannah Bell reached on a fielder's choice before Gunesch was hit by a pitch to put two on base.
Alexis Morrison also came in as a pinch hitter, driving a triple to right-center to score two runs but a line out to center field ended the rally for PSU.
Darian Lindsey finished with two hits to lead Portland State while Johansen and Morrison each finished with two RBIs.
The Vikings continue play at the Hawaii Invitational on Thursday afternoon as they face off against Iowa at 3 p.m. PT, 1 p.m. HT.
