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PORTLAND – Brittany Hendrickson hit her second career grand slam to give the Vikings a walk-off victory, 10-2 in six innings, over Idaho State in the second game of the day. The win also gave the Vikings a split on the day after falling 2-1 in their Big Sky Conference Opener earlier in the day.

Hendrickson, a junior from Springfield, OR, was focused and determined at the plate all day going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and five RBIs. She also walked twice for an .857 on base percentage. Hendrickson now leads the team with eight multi-hit games this season and is tied for the team lead with four multi-RBI games.

Alicia Fine and Candice Orozco both tallied a pair of hits on the day and drove in two and three runs respectfully. Aubrey Nitschelm went 1-for-5 on the day but was hit by a pitch twice and scored the Vikings' first two runs in game two. She scored three runs on the day as did Crysta Conn.

"We hit a lot of balls on the screws in game one that just went right to them," first-year head coach Barb Sherwood said following the split. "We made some adjustments going into game two and did a much better job. I was exceptionally pleased with how we pitched and how we hit behind runners and moved runners around. Defensively, we were ridiculously solid today."

Portland State picked up nine two out hits on the day going .409 when down to their last out of the inning. The Vikings also recorded 10 of their 11 RBIs with two outs.

Portland State also got a couple spectacular pitching performances from sophomores Karyn Wright and Melissa Masters. The two combined for a 2.15 ERA on the day allowing just four combined runs over 13 innings. They held the Idaho State offense, which came in leading the league with a .341 average, to a .217 mark at the plate. They also held Kacie Burnett and Vicky Galasso, two of the conference's best hitters to a combined 1-for-12 at the plate with one run scored and no RBIs.

"They (Wright and Masters) were amazing," Sherwood added. "We prepared all week for Idaho State. We knew what we were getting. We tried to prepare them mentally and went through batter-by-batter every single day last week. We knew what the game plan was going to be against each batter. They absolutely stuck to it and did a great job with it."

Wright started game one and pitched three nearly perfect innings to start off the game. The Vikings got on the board with a run in the bottom of the fourth after Crysta Conn was hit by a pitch with one out. After a fly out, Conn moved to second on a Hendrickson single. Fine then singled to drive in Conn and the Vikings took a 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately, two singles and a two-out double by Idaho State put the Bengals up 2-1 which would be the final score. Wright allowed just two runs off six hits but was tabbed with the loss.

Masters made her first career start in game two but it did not show. She worked ahead of batters through much of the game. She retired the first five batters she faced before a Bengal worked a walk. That did not faze Masters as she got the next batter to hit it on the ground and the Vikings got the runner at second for the final out.

Nitschelm led off the bottom of the second and reached after being hit by a pitch. Nitschelm immediately stole second to move into scoring position. After Hendrickson walked, Fine flew out to center for the first out of the inning. Nitschelm moved to third on a fielder's choice before Lexi Goranson singled in Nitschelm to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead. 

It was almost the same script in the fourth inning as Nitschelm reached via the hit by pitch and Hendrickson walked. This time Fine moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt and Orozco drove in Nitschelm with a sacrifice fly to center.

Idaho State pulled within one with a run in the top of the fifth on an RBI double.

One run would be as close as the Bengals could get as the Vikings plated four runs in the bottom half of the fifth, all with two outs.

Conn got the ball rolling with a two out single to right center. Nitschelm followed that up with a single to right center of her own. Hendrickson drove in Conn with a single to center. Fine then drove in Nitschelm with another single to center. Orozco then drove in Hendrickson and Fine with a two-run double to right center. Orozco's double forced the Bengals to make a pitching change but the damage was done and the Vikings led 6-1.

No lead is safe against an ISU team that can put runs on the board in a hurry. Idaho State led off the sixth with a single. The lead runner was out at second when the next batter grounded into a fielder's choice. A double put two runners in scoring position and forced Sherwood to make a move to the bullpen.

Wright came in to pitch with two runners on and one out in the top of the sixth. The first batter she faced hit a sacrifice fly to center scoring the runner from third. She then got the final out of the inning, a ground out to second, to close the book on Masters.

Masters threw 5 1/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks in her first career start. She threw 78 pitches and induced 13 groundouts. She also picked up her first career win in the game to move to 1-2 on the season.

Freshman catcher Alex Flores led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk and was then lifted for pinch runner Mackenzie Bourbanis. Back-to-back singles by Shae Nelson and Becca Bliss loaded the bases. Conn hit into a fielder's choice as the Bengals went home with the ball to get Bourbanis out at the plate for the first out of the inning.

After Nitschelm popped up to second, Hendrickson came to the plate with the bases loaded. She got the pitch she was looking for and pulled it to deep right center field for her second career grand slam and the Vikings' first walk-off home run of the season. The home run put the Vikings up 10-2 as they won it via the run rule.

Hendrickson matched her career high in RBIs with five in the game as she went 2-for-2 with two runs scored in the game.

The Vikings will go for the series win in the rubber-match Sunday at Erv Lind Stadium. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m.