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PORTLAND – Brittany Hendrickson continued her hot hitting but the Vikings fell 7-4 to Idaho State in the series' rubber-match Sunday at Erv Lind Stadium.

Hendrickson went 2-for-2 on the day with a solo home run, double, sacrifice fly, and three runs batted in. She drove in a run in each at bat Sunday. Hendrickson's home run was her second of the year, second in as many games.

Hendrickson is on a tear at the plate after going 6-for-7 (.857) at the plate this weekend with three runs scored, a double, and two home runs. She also drove in eight runs and walked twice. She slugged 1.857 on the weekend and had an .800 on base percentage. 

The Vikings struck first in the bottom of the first after the first three batters singled to load the bases. After a pop out to third, Hendrickson hit a ball to deep center to drive in Shae Nelson from third for the game's first run on the sacrifice fly. Alicia Fine then singled up the middle to drive in Becca Bliss and the Vikings led 2-0 after one full inning.

The Bengals pulled within a run with an RBI single in the top of the third. The Vikings answered in the bottom of the inning when Hendrickson doubled in Bliss from second to put the Vikings up 3-1.

The Vikings' pitching staff had done a good job of keeping the potent Bengals offense subdued and in the ballpark over the first two games of the series. Idaho State ended that streak with three runs in the top of the fourth, two on a Vicky Galasso two-run home run. Idaho State added another two-run home run in the top of the fifth to take a 6-3 lead.

The Bengals pushed the lead to 7-3 with another run in the top of the sixth to put the pressure on the Vikings who were down to their final six outs.

Idaho State had tried, and failed, to pitch around Hendrickson for much of the weekend but were forced to pitch to her as she led off the bottom of the sixth. After looking at a pair of called strikes on the outside half, Hendrickson connected on the third pitch and drove it deep over the center field fence to bring the Vikings within three at 7-4 but that would be as close as they would get. 

The Vikings had a runner on first in the bottom of the seventh but Nelson took too big of a secondary lead on a pitch and was picked off for the final out of the game.

Karyn Wright started in the circle for the Vikings and gave four earned runs on five hits over three innings but picked up the no decision. Melissa Masters picked up the loss allowing two runs on four hits over 1 1/3 innings. She fell to 1-3 on the season. Freshman Meagan Hendrix made her Big Sky debut throwing the final 2 1/3 innings. She allowed three hits and gave up a run.

Haley Douglas threw 6 1/3 innings for Idaho State and allowed four runs off eight hits. She picked up the win to move to 11-6. Bailey Foster picked up her first save of the season.

The Vikings will be back at Erv Lind next Friday and Saturday as they host North Dakota for a three-game Big Sky Conference set. Friday's doubleheader starts at 4 p.m. with the series finale slated for 1 p.m. Saturday.