MACOMB, Ill.--Andi Padilla tossed a four-hitter as North Dakota State University shut down Southern Utah University 4-2 in The Summit League Softball Championship played Friday, May 8, at McKee Stadium on the campus of Western Illinois University.

North Dakota State (34-17) is scheduled to play Western Illinois (32-18) or Southern Utah (24-30) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 9, in The Summit League Championship game. Host and top-seeded Western Illinois plays the Thunderbirds at 11 a.m. in the loser's bracket final. A second championship game, if needed, would be played at 4 p.m.

Padilla, a senior from Chino, Calif., retired the first 11 Southern Utah batters she faced in the contest before allowing an Aly Daniels single with two outs in the fourth inning.

North Dakota State had taken a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Breanna Konz was hit by a pitch to start a two-out rally for the Bison. Konz advanced to second on a Kelly Cantrell walk and scored on Taylor Mortensen's double to left center. Cantrell scored on Taylor Lynn's bunt single. Mortensen scored on a SUU throwing error during the sequence.

Southern Utah, which upset Western Illinois 2-0 in the tournament's first game, came out swinging in the fifth inning. Shannon Lum doubled and Natalie McBurney singled to start the frame. Lum and McBurney scored on a Caroline Fernandez triple to the right center fence.

However, Fernandez was stranded at third as Padilla buckled down to record the final three outs on a pop up to Konz, and ground out and soft line drive to shorstop Nicole Rivera.

NDSU tallied an insurance run in the top of the seventh to build the lead to 4-2. Rivera walked, Elisa Victa singled up the middle and Melissa Chmielewski walked to load the bases.

Konz, who was hit by a pitch twice to tie a school single-game record,  fought off an inside pitch and singled to center to chase home Rivera. Victa had two hits as the Bison finished with seven overall.

Padilla, who improved to 22-9 with two wins Friday, retired nine of the last 10 batters she faced following the Fernandez triple and overcame an error to start things in the seventh. Padilla struck out five and issued now walks.

Kristina Brooks (22-23), who has appeared in 50 of SUU's 54 games, recorded the loss. Brooks struck out four and walked three.