Freshman pitcher Gillian Hale totaled 10 strikeouts but it wasn't enough to silence Porterville College in a 5-2 Central Valley Conference loss on the road on Thursday.

Hale tossed a pair of scoreless innings to open the ball game but ran into trouble in the bottom of the third inning, allowing a pair of Porterville runs. PC scored two more times in the third and added a final run in the fifth.

Porterville pitcher Ally Boyd appeared to be on her way to a shutout, but Taft took advantage of an error to put up a pair of unearned runs in the top of the seventh.

Hale took the loss after allowing 5 runs (4 earned) and 4 hits over the six-inning complete-game effort. At the plate, Hale went 3 for 4 with a double and a run while Jacqueline Perez continued her hot hitting, going 3 for 4 with a double as well.

Taft fell to 1-11 overall and 0-3 in conference play. The Cougars will look to snap a 10-game losing streak on Saturday (Mar. 7) when they host College of the Siskiyous in a non-conference doubleheader. Game 1 is scheduled for 10 a.m.