HONOLULU, Hawaii – The Portland State softball team fell 8-1 to LMU in their first game of the Spring Fling Tournament on Thursday evening at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
 
A high-scoring seventh inning by LMU (6-10) is ultimately what sank the Vikings (3-10), who trailed by just three heading into the final inning.  
 
The Lions took an early lead, scoring two runs off three hits to go up 2-0 in the first. However, Portland State fired back in the bottom frame. Maddie Thompson kick-started the Vikings' offense with a leadoff single, one of only two PSU hits on the day. Emily Johansen and Paetynn Lopez followed with walks, loading the bases. With two outs in the inning, Natalia Martinez drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Thompson and cut the LMU lead in half.
 
Viking starting pitcher Grace Kimball found her groove in the subsequent innings, holding the Lions scoreless in the second and third frames. The Lions broke through in the fourth, scoring two runs to cement a 4-1 advantage. They added to that lead in the top of the seventh, knocking two home runs to run away with an 8-1 victory.
 
Alapese Matautia and Thompson were the only Vikings to record a hit on Thursday as LMU's Jenna Perez tossed a complete game for the Lions. Kimball's 6.1 innings were highlighted by seven strikeouts as she finished just one shy of her career high.

Portland State will wrap up the round-robin segment of this weekend's tournament tomorrow against Tennessee State at 1:00 p.m. PT and Hawaii at 6:00 p.m. PT.