Cedar City, Utah – The Southern Utah University Thunderbirds softball team lost the final contest of their three-game series against the Portland State University Vikings on Saturday afternoon. The loss comes after the teams split Friday's doubleheader.

Jordan Theurer was in the circle again for Southern Utah, as she led the Thunderbirds to victory in her starting appearance on Friday.

The game was relatively close early on, with both teams battling back and forth through the first five innings. In the sixth inning, however, things went south for the Thunderbirds.

The Vikings were able to capitalize on Southern Utah's pitchers, Theurer and Hannah Wynn, battled fatigue. Portland State was able to score seven runs in the top of the sixth, pushing their lead to eight runs.

The Thunderbirds were unable to score in the bottom of the sixth inning, and the game was called due to the Vikings maintaining an eight-run lead.

Southern Utah head coach, Tom Gray, said, “(Portland State) had one big hit that went off the fence… and after that a couple of their girls stuck out their bats and put the ball where we weren't. Credit to them for a great game.”

The loss drops the Thunderbirds to 6-28 (3-3 Big Sky). Despite going 1-2 in the series against Portland State, Coach Gray saw a strong positive from his team's performance.

“We're going to be a good offensive team. We're going to continue hitting the ball.”

Southern Utah will be in action again on Tuesday, April 5, for a doubleheader at Brigham Young University. The Thunderbirds beat BYU last season in Provo, by a score of 11-8. Big Sky play will resume of the Thunderbirds on Friday, April 9, with a three-game series at home against Weber State.