The Portland State softball team opened its conference home schedule at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex on Friday, splitting its doubleheader with Northern Colorado. The Bears took game one 6-3 before the Vikings responded with a 6-1 win in the afternoon's finale.
The Vikings moved to 20-14 overall and 4-4 in Big Sky action, while UNC jumped to 16-20 and 4-1 in conference play.
Portland State failed to find timely hits in the opener, stranding ten base runners over seven innings. Natalia Martinez's 3-for-4 performance at the plate highlighted the Vikings' offense, which totaled nine hits in the contest.
After the Bears took an early 3-0 lead in the first, Mariah Rodriguez' first-career home run put PSU on the board in the home half of the inning. UNC tacked on another in the second before Shea Garcia scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to two. Following a pair of UNC runs, a two-out RBI single from Martinez in the seventh was the final spark for the Vikings as they fell 6-3.
Olivia Grey took the loss on the rubber, recording seven strikeouts as she moved to 12-5 on the season.
A determined Viking's offense took control of game two early on and never looked back. Martinez was the first to cash in, knocking an RBI double in the bottom of the first to score Kiara McCrea. Logan Riggenbach followed, launching her fifth home run of the season to open the second inning.
Emily Johansen's RBI and Rodriguez's sacrifice fly gave the Vikings a four-run advantage in the third before Rodriguez and Olivia Dean tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the fifth.
The Bears managed to avoid the shutout with a home run in the final frame but were unable to overcome the five-run deficit as the Vikings took game two, 6-1.
In her first complete seven-inning game of the season, Allicitie Frost held the Bears to only six hits and one earned run as she improved to 6-4 in the circle.
Portland State was solid at the dish, totaling 12 hits. Riggenbach had a team-high three knocks, while seven other Vikings contributed to the hit column.
The teams will collide for the final time this weekend in a rubber match scheduled for 12 p.m. on Saturday at Gordon Faber Field 4.
Original source can be found here.
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