CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Portland State softball team tallied 30 hits in its doubleheader against Southern Utah on Friday but was unable to shut down the Thunderbirds falling in both games 9-7 and 11-10.
Setting the tone early in game one, SUU began the high-scoring affair by jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. The Vikings managed to cut the deficit to one with a pair of RBI from Ashlyn Monroe and Maddie Thompson in the second inning.
Adding five runs over the next two innings the Thunderbirds found themselves holding a comfortable 8-3 lead. The PSU offense chipped away at the SUU lead in the sixth, bringing two across to make it 8-4.
Faced with a five-run deficit heading into the final inning, the Vikings continued to fight, capitalizing on a Southern Utah error to add to their total. A clutch piece of hitting from Logan Riggenbach brought two more across but the Thunderbirds ended the threat to earn the game one victory 9-7.
Katie Schroder took the loss for the Vikings while Marisol Gaona and Bailey Rose also saw action in the circle.
Portland State was unphased by reigning Big Sky Pitcher of the Week, Tyler Denhart as they tallied nine hits and three earned runs against the freshman. Adding three more in the final inning, PSU ended the contest with 12 hits, matching the Thunderbirds in the hit column. Emily Johansen knocked a team-high three hits for the Vikings.
A determined PSU squad kept its foot on the pedal, carrying its three-run seventh inning momentum into game two.
The Vikings notched a big first inning as Paetynn Lopez, Rachel Menlove, Johansen and Riggenbach strung together a series of RBI en route to a 4-0 lead.
PSU continued to put pressure on the defense in its next at-bat, seeing a trio of RBI from Menlove, Shea Garcia, and Olivia Dean to extend its lead to seven.
Unstoppable at the plate, Menlove tallied her third consecutive hit to bring home Johansen, adding to the Viking lead in the third.
Southern Utah came to life in the bottom half of the third, chopping the Viking lead in half with a grand slam. Putting up another big inning in the fourth, the Thunderbirds brought in four more to lock things at eight.
The teams continued to trade leads as Menlove drove in another run in the 5th to give PSU the lead. Southern Utah was quick to respond, tying things at nine before Marissa Bruno put the Vikings back in business hitting in the go-ahead run in the sixth.
No stranger to one-inning ball games the Vikings fought to hold off the Thunderbirds in the final frame but SUU stepped up when it mattered most, scrapping two runs on its way to an 11-10 win.
Serafine Parrish started in the circle before three other Vikings faced the Thunderbird offense in game two. Olivia Grey tossed two innings, taking the loss to close out the afternoon.
Portland State recorded a season-high 18 hits in the contest. Menlove was an exceptional 4-4 at the plate, while Lopez and Johansen also caught fire, notching three hits each.
Recording a stolen base in game two, Bruno became the Vikings' all-time (DI era) career stolen base leader with 35.
UP NEXT:
Portland State will look to end the weekend with a victory as they take on the Thunderbirds in the final game of the series tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT.
