NATCHEZ — The Vidalia High School softball team was overwhelmed at the plate Monday afternoon, in a 5-1 loss to Bunkie High School.

Bunkie starting pitcher Lindsey Riché went all seven innings against the Lady Vikings, allowing just one run on three hits and striking out 13 Vidalia batters.

Vidalia’s lone run came off a solo home run by Kelsee Partridge in the fourth inning.

“(We lost that game) because of our inability to focus and our inability to hit,” Vidalia head coach Gary Paul Parnham said.

The Lady Vikings committed three errors in the game that led to two unearned runs.

Vidalia pitcher, Laura Perilloux pitched well in the loss. She went the distance, giving up the five runs on seven hits and one walk. Perilloux struck out four batters.

“(Laura) did fine, she pitched well enough to win but we made some errors behind her and didn’t hit,” Parnham said.

Both pitchers shut down the opposing offenses until the fourth inning.

In the top of the fourth Riché singled for Bunkie, advanced to third on a ground out and then scored on an RBI ground out by Lauren Descant.

Vidalia answered in the bottom of the fourth with Partridge’s solo shot to left.

Bunkie would add an unearned run in the fifth and then take a comfortable lead by scoring three in the sixth.

Parnham was unhappy with his teams ability to get anything going offensively, and was really bothered by the 13 strike outs, he said.

“(Riché) threw good, I don’t want to take anything away from her,” Parnham said.

“But it’s something that you have to adjust to.”

Vidalia had five innings in which they went three-up and three-down. And one inning that they only sent four batters to the plate.

The lone inning that the Lady Vikings sent more than four batters to the plate was the fourth, in which Partridge hit her homer and Chelsey Richards singled.

The loss moved Vidalia to 6-9 on the season, Parnham said.