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SEATTLE – Portland State matched 14th-ranked Washington hit-for-hit, but it was the Huskies who came out on top, 6-2, on Thursday evening at Husky Softball Stadium in NCAA Regional action.

The Vikings finished with six hits, as did Washington, but they weren't able to score until their final turn at-bat when Arielle Wiser hit a two-run double.

Portland State (34-17) will now take on No. 21/23 Auburn (39-18) tomorrow in an elimination game at 5:30 p.m. The Tigers were a 2-1 loser to BYU in the first contest of the regional.

The Huskies (35-14) opened the scoring in the second inning after Morgan Stuart hit a leadoff triple off the center field wall and scored on a wild pitch by Portland State pitcher Anna Bertrand. Washington pushed its lead to 3-0 in the third on Niki Williams' two-run home run to left field.

Portland State had chances to break through in each of the first two innings, but came empty both times. The Vikings put runners on first and second with two outs in the first frame after Carly McEachran and Danielle Lynn drew back-to-back walks, before UW pitcher Kaitlin Ingelsby got Crysta Conn swinging. In the second, Lacey Holm led off with a single through the right side and two batters later Brandi Campos dropped a ball into right center. In between, Karmen Holladay lifted a fly ball deep to the outfield that Huskies left fielder Victoria Hayward caught at the fence. Holm and Campos eventually both moved up a base on a groundout, but  were stranded.

Ingelsby, a freshman who prepped at Portland's Central Catholic High School, helped herself out with a two-run single in the fifth inning that gave Washington a 6-0 lead.

The Vikings finally got on the scoreboard with two outs in the seventh. Campos reached after getting hit by a pitch and Becca Bliss followed with a single back up the middle. After Ingelsby recorded an out, Wiser laced a ball into the right centerfield gap.

PSU hit Ingelsby hard throughout the game, but had little to show for it in terms of runs. McEachran led the way, going 2-for-2 in a homecoming of sorts. The sophomore second baseman hails from Mill Creek, just north of Seattle.

Bertrand went the distance and fell to 16-9. She gave up six runs – four of which were earned – and two walks with four strikeouts.

For the Huskies, Ingelsby improved to 23-8 in the circle and also had two hits at the plate. She walked a pair of runners and struck out nine.

NOTES: The Vikings had their DI era school record 11-game winning streak snapped. They still have won 21 of their last 23 games ... Bertrand had won 11 straight decisions before losing today ... PSU fell to 1-5 all-time in the NCAA tournament. They went 1-2 in 2006 and 0-2 in 2009 ... McEachran extended her career-best hitting streak to eight games ... Auburn holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series with Portland State ... the Tigers are ranked 21st by the NFCA and 23rd by USA Softball.

LINE SCORE

Washington 6, Portland State 2 (May 19, 2011 at Seattle, Wash.)
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Portland State...... 000 000 2 -  2  6  2      (34-17)
Washington.......... 012 120 X -  6  6  0      (35-14)
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Pitchers: Portland State - BERTRAND, Anna and HOLM, Lacey. Washington - Inglesby, K. and
Wright, S..
Win-Inglesby, K.(23-8)  Loss-BERTRAND, Anna(16-9)  T-1:51  A-1035
HR WASH - Williams, N. (14).
Weather: Sunny