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TEMPE -- Following a season-opening loss to San Deigo State on Friday morning at the Kajikawa Classic, the Portland State Vikings bounced back in a big way in the afternoon, riding the no-hit performance of Anna Bertrand to a 9-0 victory over Cal Poly.

PSU's 2012 season opened with a 7-3 loss to the Aztecs in the morning, but behind the masterful pitching of Bertrand, they blanked the Mustangs and won in five innings after Karmen Holladay delivered a walk-off two-run home run.

Bertrand narrowly missed pitching the first perfect game in Portland State's NCAA Division I era, walking the first batter of the game before retiring each of the next 15 Cal Poly batters she faced. She could have registered the perfect game if not for being called for two illegal pitches during the opening at-bat of the evening.

Bertrand got the Mustangs leadoff batter, Nora Sobczak, to groundout to short, but the pitch was ruled illegal. Following a ball that put the count at three balls and one strike, Bertrand delivered a pitch that was called a strike. But she was yet again called for an illegal pitch by an umpire in the field, allowing Sobcazk to reach base. It didn't matter, though, as she struck out seven of the next eight batters she faced on her way to PSU's first no-hitter since 2009, which also came in Tempe.

The Vikings struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, tacked on two more in the fourth and finished the game with a five-run fifth inning.

In the first frame, Becca Bliss plated Jenna Krogh on a groundrule double to left field and later scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Crysta Conn. A two-run homer to right centerfield by Aubrey Nitschelm made the score 4-0 after four innings of play.

Portland State loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth and Crysta Conn came through with a bases-clearing double down the left field line. Holladay followed by belting a 3-1 pitch over the fence in right center to end the game via the eight-run rule.

PSU ended with eight hits, getting two apiece from Krogh and Holladay. Conn finished with four RBIs, while freshmen Brittany Hendrickson and Nitschelm both registered the first hits of their careers.

Against San Diego State, the Vikings gave up three runs in each of the first two innings and couldn't rally all the way back.

The Aztecs got a two-run home run from Lorena Klopp and a solo shot off the bat of Patrice Jackson to open up a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After they pushed their lead to 6-0, the Vikings finally got on the board on a solo homer by Carly McEachran in the fourth inning. A RBI-single by Conn in the fifth and another run in the sixth closed out the scoring for PSU.

Portland State managed eight hits off of SDSU starter Bailey Micetich. McEachran and Krogh each had two to lead the team.

Klopp batted 2-for-4 with three RBIs for the Aztecs, and leadoff hitter Hayley Miles went 2-for-2, scored three times and hit a solo home run in the sixth.

Holladay suffered the loss for the Vikings, pitching 5 2/3 innings. After giving up six earned runs, she settled down and pitched effectively the rest of the way. She struck out four and walked three.

Portland State is back in action tomorrow, taking on No. 9/10 Stanford at 7:30 a.m. PT and McNeese State at 1 p.m. PT. Both games can be heard on GoViks.com and live stats will also be available.

NOTES: The Vikings hit .327 (16-for-49) over the two games. Krogh went 4-for-7 to pace the team. She also swiped two bases ... Maggie Sholian picked up the first hit of her career, and PSU's first hit of 2012, with a bloop single to left field in the third innning against San Diego State ... the Vikings' last no-hitter also came at the Kajikawa Classic when they blanked McNeese State, 10-0 in five innings, on Feb. 6, 2009. Tori Rogers pitched all five innings for the Vikings in that game ... just a sophomore, Conn tallied the sixth sac flyout of her career and moved into a second all-time on the Park Blocks. She needs one more to tie the record held by Lacey Holm ... Conn had five RBIs on the day ... McEachran's home run was the seventh of her career. Holladay's was her fifth ... Holladay's walkoff homer came on the same field -- the Northeast field at the Tempe Sports Complex -- where she hit a game-winning single against No. 16 BYU last year on Feb. 11. That hit was also to right center.