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TEMPE, Ariz – Five Portland State players had two hits apiece and the Vikings' offense exploded for 13 hits in all as they downed San Jose State, 5-3, on Saturday morning at the Kajikawa Classic.
Portland State won its third straight game after a season-opening loss to improve to 3-1 for the first time since 1998. They take on No. 20 Stanford later today at 6 p.m. PT.
While their offense was racking up a season-high in hits, PSU pitchers
Nichole Latham and
Anna Bertrand were combining on a four-hitter. Latham started and pitched the first 3 1/3 innings, scattering four hits and giving up three earned runs. Bertrand relieved her in the fourth, pitching hitless ball and striking out five over the final 3 2/3 innings.
The Spartans had the momentum early on, though, and struck in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs, before Portland State went up 3-2 with a three-run third inning. All three of the Vikings' runs came with two outs.
Jenna Krogh started the rally by reaching on a SJSU fielding error and
Sadie Lopez followed with a single to center field. Both players moved up a base on a wild pitch before Spartans shortstop BranDee Garcia let a grounder off the bat of
Carly McEachran go between her legs, with Krogh and Lopez scoring on the play.
Karmen Holladay then put the Vikings up 3-2 with a sharply hit ball back up the middle. Garcia dove and knocked it down to keep the ball on the infield, but heady baserunning by McEachran allowed her to come around all the way from second to score.
Cheryl Freitas answered right back for San Jose State in the bottom half of the inning, leading off with a solo shot to left center, her second blast of the year. But that would be the last hit of the ballgame for the Spartans.
The Vikings went back in front on a RBI-single by Lopez in the fifth, then added to their lead the next inning when
Lacey Holm had a pinch-hit RBI-single through the left side.
Holladay, Krogh, Lopez,
Danielle Lynn and
Arielle Wiser each had two hits for PSU. Holladay hit her first double of the season, while Krogh legged out her first triple of 2011.
Bertrand earned the win, improving to 2-0. With 24 strikeouts already, she is averaging an impressive 12.6 Ks per seven innings.
Ames fell to 1-2, going the distance for San Jose State (1-3). Of the five runs she gave up, just two were earned. She struck out five and didn't walk a batter.
NOTES: PSU leads the all-time series with SJSU, 13-6, and has won four in a row. This was their first meeting since 2002, when the Vikings were in their last season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference ... PSU already has three triples this year, including two by McEachran. They didn't record their first triple last year until the 19th game and didn't tally their third until the 27th game ... Holm leads PSU with four RBIs. She didn't record her fourth RBI of 2010 until game number 19 ... tonight's game against Stanford can be heard on GoViks.com. Live stats will also be available ... PSU and Stanford last met up in the first round of the 2009 NCAA tournament in Palo Alto. The Cardinal earned a 10-3 victory in the contest.
LINESCORE:
Portland State 5, San Jose State 3 (Feb 12, 2011 at Tempe, Ariz.)
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Portland State...... 003 011 0 - 5 13 1 (3-1)
San Jose State...... 201 000 0 - 3 4 4 (1-3)
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Pitchers: Portland State - LATHAM, Nichole; BERTRAND, Anna(4) and NORRIE, Kayla.
San Jose State - Ames, Jennifer and Garcia, Jessica.
Win-BERTRAND, Anna(2-0) Loss-Ames, Jennifer(1-2) T-2:57 A-110
HR SJSU - Freitas, Cheryl.
Weather: 71; Sunny
