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PORTLAND, Ore. – Behind a powerful offense that pounded out 12 hits and a complete game performance by Anna Bertrand in the circle, Portland State took game two of the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Championship Series, 8-1, to sweep the best-of-three event and advance to the NCAA tournament for the second time in three seasons.

Bertrand, who was voted as the Series Most Outstanding Pitcher, scattered six hits and struck out five, winning her 11th straight decision to move to 16-8. Series Most Outstanding Player Jenna Krogh led the Vikings at the plate, going 3-for-4 and driving in three runs from her leadoff spot.

The Vikings (34-16) tallied their 11th straight win, a school record at the NCAA Division I level, and have won 21 of their past 22 games as they await to hear where they will go for regional play. The PSU Athletic Department will host a viewing party tomorrow evening at the downtown Portland Buffalo Wild Wings. The event starts at 6 p.m., while the NCAA Selection Show starts at 7 p.m.

After winning the series opener yesterday, 3-2 in 10 innings, the Vikings started hot on Saturday, scoring three runs over their first two turns at-bat, then used a five-run sixth to ice the Lions.

As the designated visiting team, the Vikings went up first and Krogh got things going with a leadoff infield single. Arielle Wiser moved Krogh over with a sacrifice bunt and two batters later Danielle Lynn ripped a single into center field to score Krogh.

Lacey Holm led off the second with a solo shot to left, her fifth blast of the season, and Krogh later drove in Becca Bliss on a double, making the score 3-0.

LMU (32-27) got its lone run in the fourth when Kathryn Dutton hit a leadoff homer to center field.

In the sixth, Portland State wrapped out five hits and forced the Lions to make two pitching changes.

Lynn hit a single to left field to start the frame, chasing Lions' starter Dana Waldusky from the contest. Back-to-back errors by LMU allowed Lynn to score, before Karmen Holladay singled through the right side of the infield to plate Holm and Crysta Conn. Krogh closed out the scoring, hitting a single up the middle that brought in Brandi Campos and Megan Lyons.

Loyola Marymount came into the series averaging a conference best 4.8 runs per game, but it was the Vikings who provided the offensive show on Saturday.

"They (Loyola Marymount) are a great team," said Vikings Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk after the game. "I don't want to say I'm surprised (by the final score), but I know what type of hitters we have and I know what we are capable of. They went out there and put the pressure on them every single inning, every single at-bat, and that's what we have been doing all year with anybody that we played."

In addition to Krogh's big day at the plate, Lynn also went 3-for-4 and Carly McEachran hit 2-for-4.

"All of the girls have worked so hard all year. We were talking about it after the game that all of the conditioning and the long hours and the weights and days where they wanted to kill me, but I kept telling them 'it's going to pay off, it's going to pay off' and it did," Echo-Hawk said. "They were just a group that bought into everything and really came together and played well."

NOTES: PSU captured its third PCSC title after having done so in 2006 and 2009. They matched LMU for the most conference titles in the nine-year history of the league ... PSU's previous trips to the NCAA tourney were in 2006, in Corvallis, Ore., and 2009, in Stanford, Calif. ... Krogh hit .556 (5-for-9) in the series ... Bertrand went 2-0 with a 0.70 ERA over 10 innings in the series. She held LMU to a .194 batting average ... PSU hit .304 over the two games. LMU hit .258 ... Holm drove in her 40th run of the year with her homer. She becomes just the seventh player in PSU history to reach that mark ... with 241 RBIs now, the Vikings set a school single season record ... PSU's 34 wins are the second most in their DI history, trailing only the 2006 team's 38-20 mark ... the NCAA Selection Show will air on ESPNU.


LINE SCORE

Portland State 8, Loyola Marymount 1 (May 14, 2011 at Portland, Ore.)
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Portland State...... 120 005 0 -  8 12  0      (34-16)
Loyola Marymount.... 000 100 0 -  1  6  4      (32-27)
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Pitchers: Portland State - BERTRAND, Anna and HOLM, Lacey. Loyola Marymount - WALDUSKY, Dana;
MEDEIROS, Molly(6); GOLDSTEIN, Stevie(6) and ALVAREZ, Olivia.
Win-BERTRAND, Anna(16-8)  Loss-WALDUSKY, Dana(9-8)  T-1:49  A-0
HR PSU - HOLM, Lacey (5).
HR LMU - DUTTON, Kathryn (10).
Weather: 60; Partly Sunny
Game notes:
Game 2 PCSC Championship Series
PSU wins series 2-0; earns automatic NCAA berth.
Jenna Krogh (PSU) - Series Outstanding Player
Anna Bertrand (PSU) - Series Outstanding Pitcher
WALDUSKY, D. faced 1 batter in the 6th.
MEDEIROS, M. faced 4 batters in the 6th.