ST. GEORGE, Utah - The Portland State softball team clawed its way to its third walk-off win of the season on Saturday, defeating Utah Tech 6-5 in extra innings before dropping the nightcap to Utah Valley, 11-7 on day two of the Trailblazer Tournament at Karl Brooks Field. The Vikings moved to 6-12 overall. Utah Tech now sits at 10-6 overall, while the Wolverines are 6-12.
It was an eventful opening inning against the Trailblazers as the teams combined for five runs in their first at-bats. Despite playing on Utah Tech's home field, the Vikings were considered the "home" team in game one.
UTU opened with a three-run first inning before PSU responded in the bottom half with two runs of its own. Emily Johansen started the rally for the Vikings, ripping a triple down the right-field line to score Olivia Dean. Paetynn Lopez brought Johansen home with an RBI single to right field to cut the deficit to one.
Three scoreless innings followed before Utah Tech extended its lead to 4-2 in the top of the fifth. Bailee Noland's two-run bomb in the bottom half of the inning tied the game at four, where the score remained until extra innings.
Playing an international tiebreaker, the Trailblazers scored one run in the top of the eighth to take the lead. Ellie Babbitt tied it for the Vikings in the bottom half, bringing home Neveah Smith with a one-out RBI single. Keeping the rally alive, Logan Riggenbach and Trinity Holden strung together a pair of singles to load the bases before Utah Tech recorded a crucial strikeout to bring Maddie Thompson to the plate with two outs. Battling with a 1-2 count, the lefty came through for the Vikings with a walk-off RBI single up the middle to score Babbitt and hand the Trailblazers their first home loss of the 2023 season, 6-5.
Entering the game in the first inning, Annie Lemos was stellar on the rubber for the Vikings. The sophomore held Utah Tech to four hits in 7.2 innings of work, allowing just one earned run as she picked up her first win of the season.
PSU tallied a season-high 13 hits in the win. Riggenbach led the way, going a season-best 4-for-4 at the plate, while seven other Vikings recorded at least one hit.
Game two saw the Vikings take on Utah Valley for the third time in two weeks.
Riggenbach and Natalia Martinez put PSU on top in the second inning with back-to-back RBI doubles before UVU stormed back with eight runs in the bottom frame. Back-to-back bombs from Noland and Lopez cut into the Trailblazers' lead in the third. Thompson ended the rally with a perfectly executed drag bunt that scored Riggenbach, cutting the deficit to two at 8-6. The Wolverines added to its lead with runs in its next two at-bats before Lopez blasted her second home run of the game to make it 10-7 in the fifth. After scoring again in the sixth, UVU held the Vikings scoreless in their final at-bat of the night to secure the 11-7 victory.
Lopez and Riggenbach accounted for five of Portland State's nine hits against the Wolverines. Riggenbach finished the day 6-for-7 at the dish, while four other Vikings added a hit in the nightcap.
The Trailblazers faced four different pitchers in the contest but it was Viking starter, Allicitie Frost, who took the loss. Bailey Rose had a solid outing, giving up four hits and two runs in four innings of action.
PSU will play its final game of the weekend tomorrow (Sunday, March 5), as they close out the Trailblazer Tournament against UNLV at Karl Brooks Stadium (9 a.m. PT).
