No. 5 Weber State softball's run at the Big Sky Conference tournament ran out of gas Friday afternoon and the Wildcats' season ended with a 12-5 defeat to No. 4 Portland State in Pocatello, Idaho.

PSU (21-23) faced No. 3 Sacramento State later Friday night; the winner advances to championship Saturday needing to defeat No. 1 Northern Colorado twice.

WSU (22-28) shortstop Taegan Smith finished a strong week at the plate by hitting a solo homer in the first inning to go up 1-0.

Portland State got to Brooke Hatfield for three runs charged to her ledger in two innings, capped when Ellie Babbit hit a two-run double off Jayci Finch in the third inning to get the Vikings up 4-1.

Trailing 8-1 in the sixth, WSU stayed alive when Sammy Gallegos doubled in Makayla Donahoo and Kiaira Smith hit a two-RBI double to left field, making the score 8-4.

Kiaira Smith's double was WSU's 11th hit of the game but the only one with a runner in scoring position. PSU only outhit WSU 16-13 but the Wildcats finished 1 of 11 with runners in scoring position.

Portland State added four runs in the top of the seventh to ice the game before Mariyah Delgado capped the scoring for WSU with a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh.

The loss ends the storied career for WSU head coach Mary Kay Amicone. She finishes her college coaching career with 808 wins between BYU, Salt Lake Community College and WSU. In 11 seasons at Weber State, Amicone won six regular-season titles and four tournament titles, and also led the Wildcats to the program's and Big Sky's only victory in the NCAA Tournament.

Amicone is an eventual shoo-in for Weber State, Big Sky and Utah Sports halls of fame.

Weber State has not publicly named Amicone's replacement but it has long been expected that associate head coach Kristin Delahoussaye, who just finished her seventh season on Amicone's staff, would get the job. Delahoussaye, sources tell the Standard-Examiner, passed on opportunities at other schools to take the reins from Amicone when the time came.

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