Box Score (HTML)
BOISE – Alicia Fine and
Karmen Holladay both homered for the second straight day, and
Brittany Hendrickson had three hits to lead Portland State to a 11-5 victory over Utah State on Saturday afternoon at the SpringHill Suites Invitational.
After going down in order in the top of the first, Portland State scored in each of the next six innings to win going away. Holladay drove in four runs and the Vikings tallied 12 hits to improve to 10-11.
Utah State dropped to 8-17 with their nine consecutive loss.
Less than 24 hours after hitting a game-tying home run in the top of the seventh against Boise State for her first career round-tripper, Fine tied the game up against the Aggies with a solo shot in the second inning.
Holladay put the Vikings on top with a two-run blast to left center in the third inning, starting a streak of five straight two-run innings for the Vikings.
Utah State answered back with a pair of runs in their half of the third, benefiting from three walks and a hit batter by Viking pitcher
Raya Johnson.
In the fourth, both teams scored twice more to make it a 5-5 ballgame.
Sadie Lopez knocked in a run for the Vikings with an infield single and then pinch runner
Aubrey Nitschelm stole home after Lopez intentionally got in a rundown between first and second base. Utah State's Christine Thomsen tied the contest up with a two-run homer to right field in the bottom of the frame.
That was all the Aggies would get though, as PSU relief pitcher
Anna Bertrand kept them off the board over the last three innings.
Portland State pushed its lead to 7-5 in the top of the fifth after
Crysta Conn and Holladay hit back-to-back doubles to lead off, and pinch runner
Kajsa Sporseen stole home just as Nitschelm had done one inning prior.
Conn and Holladay both drove in runs in the sixth on singles, and the Vikings scored twice more in the top of the seventh, including on an RBI-groundout by
Maggie Sholian.
The Vikings scored their second most runs of the season and eclipsed the 10-hit barrier for the fourth time. Conn, Fine and Holladay each tallied a pair of hits to aid Hendrickson's three-hit performance.
PSU also swiped a season-best six bases, their highest total since March 29, 2009, against Seattle.
Jenna Krogh stole her team-leading sixth and
Becca Bliss swiped her fifth, while Hendrickson, Lopez, Nitschelm and Sporseen all tallied their first.
Bertrand (8-6) got the victory after working the final four innings. She gave up two runs on the homer by Thomsen, but otherwise was very effective, striking out six and limiting the Aggies to three hits.
The Aggies went through three pitchers. Shelbi Tyteca started and lasted 3 1/3 innings, then came back on to pitch the seventh. She gave up seven runs on seven hits and three walks. Mariah Peterson (0-1) was the pitcher of record for Utah State, though, allowing what proved to be the winning runs in the fifth inning.
Portland State and Utah State are scheduled to play again tomorrow at 9 a.m. PT. The Vikings are also supposed to take on Boise State at 1 p.m. PT. But there is a chance the schedule will be shifted to make up for games that have been lost so far due to rain. Check GoViks.com for updates.
NOTES: Hendrickson could have been 4-for-4, but her first at-bat was originally scored a single to the shortstop before being changed to an error. She ended up with the Vikings' third three-hit game of the year and the first of her career ... Holladay has driven in seven runs over the past two games and leads the team with 18. Her homer was her seventh of the season. She also hit her team-leading sixth double. 13 of her 22 hits on the year have gone for extra-bases ... Holladay is now tied for ninth in single season home runs at PSU and her 11 career homers is the eighth most in the Vikings' DI era (1999-present) ... Fine homered in back-to-back at-bats after ending the game against Boise State with a two-run shot then hitting the solo blast in her first plate appearance against the Aggies ... the Vikings had new starters at second and third base for the first time all season. Hendrickson got the start at third, while
Alexa Morales started at second ... PSU didn't commit an error for the first time in 11 games ... the Vikings won their sixth straight over the Aggies and lead the series 6-1. All seven meetings have come at neutral sites.