Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

GREELEY, Colo. - The bats warmed up in Colorado as the Vikings split the opening doubleheader of their four-game series with Northern Colorado Saturday afternoon. The Bears took the first game of the day, 4-2, but the Vikings took the second game 10-8 after spotting the Bears a 5-0 lead in the first inning.

The Vikings pitching has been the staple of the team over the past few weeks but it was the hitting that saved the day for the Vikings. Sadie Lopez went 3-for-4 in the second game with a home run and four RBIs while Carly McEachran went 5-for-8 on the day with two runs scored and one run driven in.

The Vikings, as a team, hit for a .333 average on the day (20-for-60) and tallied 12 RBIs with two long balls on the day.

Game 1 – Northern Colorado 4, Portland State 2

The Vikings dropped the opening game of their afternoon doubleheader against the Bears of Northern Colorado Saturday by a score of 4-2.

After two scoreless innings, the Vikings broke through first with two runs in the top of the third after McEachran singled in Becca Bliss, who reached on a walk. Later in the inning, Crysta Conn was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded bringing in McEachran giving the Vikings a 2-0 lead going to the bottom of the third inning.

The Bears would counter with two runs of their own in the third, tying the game at 2-2. After a scoreless top of the fourth for the Vikings, the Bears added another two runs and would force the Vikings starting pitcher, Anna Bertrand, from the game after just 3 1/3 innings.

For the game, Bertrand threw 3 1/3 innings and gave up three earned runs, four runs total, on six hits while walking one and recording no strikeouts and would take the loss in the game to fall to 13-9 on the season. Saturday marked just the second time this season, second in the past three games, where Bertrand failed to record a strikeout.  

Raya Johnson came in relief of Bertrand with one out in the fourth and threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings to finish out the game.

Kelsie Cheney moved to 7-7 on the season for the Bears with the 4-2 win after throwing a complete game allowing two earned runs off seven hits while walking three and striking out two.

McEachran went 4-for-4 in the game with a run scored and a run batted in. Bliss went 1-for-2 on the day with a run scored.

Game 2 – Portland State 10, Northern Colorado 8

Johnson started the second game of the doubleheader for the Vikings but would only record one out in the first inning before being chased from the game after surrendering five earned runs.

After falling behind 5-0 early in the second game, the Vikings would have to rely on their offense to get back in the game. The bats have struggled as of late for the Vikings. They scored only 12 runs over four games last weekend against Idaho State, the Vikings went 3-1 on the weekend, but the bats would heat up Saturday starting in the top of the second inning.

Conn singled through the left side on the first pitch of the inning for a leadoff hit. Alicia Fine then moved her to second on a single to center field. Alexa Morales then cleared the bases with a three-run home run to center field on a 2-0 count to bring the score to 5-3 in favor of the Bears. The Vikings would add another run on a Lopez solo shot, her first of the year, to bring the score to 5-4 going to the home half of the second.

Bertrand, who relieved Johnson in the first, would give up a run in the bottom of the second allowing the Bears to extend their lead to 6-4.

Bertrand threw threw the final 6 2/3 innings and gave up three earned runs and walked four while striking out five to earn the win and improve to 14-9 on the season.

McEachran doubled to right to leadoff the third for the Vikings and then moved to third on a fly out to right off the bat of Karmen Holladay. After the next batter popped out to first, Fine singled to left, scoring McEachran to bring the Vikings to within one run at 6-5.  

The Vikings took the lead for the first time in the game, 7-6, with two runs in the top of the sixth with a Lopez RBI single and a Bliss groundout to second scoring Morales.

Portland State extended its lead with three runs in the top of the seventh on three hits to take a 10-6 lead. The Bears would try to mount a comeback in the bottom of the seventh but could only bring in two runs as the Vikings would take the second game of the doubleheader, 10-8.

Fine was a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs scored and a run batted in. Morales went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and three runs batted in.

The Vikings and Bears match up again on Sunday with another doubleheader slated to start at 11 a.m. PDT.