CEDAR CITY, Utah. The Southern Utah softball team demonstrated some grittiness in a difficult contest against Portland State, but came up short in a 10-4 loss to the Vikings in Cedar City.

The Thunderbirds, who had been on a five-game conference winning streak, dropped to 5-1 in league play with the loss. SUU had been tied with Weber State atop the league rankings with both teams sporting a 5-0 record.  The Wildcats have a contest against Sacramento State this afternoon to determine if they will be in sole possession of first in the conference.

Kalena Shepherd provided the top offensive highlight of the day for the Thunderbirds as she crushed her seventh home run of the season over the center field fence for a two-run RBI.  She finished 1-for-1 with 2 RBI and a trio of walks. 

SUU had its chances to sweep the series this weekend, but could not complete another comeback bid this afternoon after stranding 13 on base. 

After a clean first inning with both pitchers controlling the action, Portland State took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second.  PSU then stretched the lead to 6-0 with a five-run inning in the top of the third. 

Dayna Hokanson, batting leadoff after the T-Birds made a lineup adjustment, singled down the left-field line to plate Gianna Carosone in the bottom of the fourth frame to cut the lead to 6-1.

The Vikings stretched the lead to 9-1 in the top of the fifth to potentially put a run-rule victory into play.  Shepherd, however, extended the game with her two-run moonshot in the bottom of the fifth to cut the gap to 9-3.  

Reilly Williams, who connected on a walk-off double for the comeback win last night, shaved PSU's advantage to 9-4 in the fifth as well with a single down the right-field line to plate Makall Whetten. 

Portland State, however, tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh to stretch its lead to 10-4.

Payton Goodrich took the loss for the Thunderbirds, falling to 3-9 this season. 

Next up, the Thunderbirds take a brief break from Big Sky Conference play with a contest against intra-state rival BYU in Provo, Utah on April 15 at 5 p.m. MST. SUU then returns to Big Sky action April 17-18 with a three-game series at Montana in Missoula. 

Follow Us

Stay up to date during the 2021 Thunderbird Softball season by following @SUUSoftball on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Softball page on Facebook.