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TEMPE, Ariz. – After holding the Fordham Rams scoreless for the first five innings, the Portland State Vikings gave up eight runs over the final two innings to fall 8-0 in their final game of the 2015 Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
 
Portland State starting pitcher Kristen Crawford allowed just two hits over four shutout innings before being lifted to start the top of the fifth.
 
Crawford, in her first year with the Vikings after playing two years at Mt. Hood Community College, has pitched well for the Vikings. She is 2-0 on the season with a 1.91 earned run average after allowing just four earned runs over 14 2/3 innings. Crawford is allowing batters to hit .311 this season but has shown a propensity to get out of trouble.
 
The Rams had two runners on and one out in the top of the first inning but Crawford induced a fly ball to center and a foul out to get out of the inning. She again got out of could-be trouble in the second getting a double play after a walk and inducing another fly ball out to center after hitting a batter.
 
Crawford then worked around a pair of PSU errors in the top of the fourth inning to keep the Rams scoreless.
 
Portland State, which was held to just one hit over the first three innings, had its best chance to score in the bottom of the fourth. Lexi Goranson singled to center and then moved to second on a Brittany Hendrickson single. Goranson then stole third but Hendrickson was picked off on the play for the first out. A strikeout and a groundout stranded Goranson on third.
 
Meagan Hendrix came on in relief of Crawford to start the top of the fifth and set the rams down in order. She got the first out of the sixth before giving up a single up the middle. The next batter hit a home run to left field to put the Rams up 2-0. Hendrix got out of the inning with no more damage.
 
After the Vikings were unable to do anything in the bottom of the sixth, the Rams put runners on second and third with one out. A base hit up the middle plated two more runs as Hendrix was lifted for Karyn Wright.
 
A single plated another run and a hit by pitch put two runners on with still just one out. Wright got the second out by inducing a fly ball to center field but was not as fortunate when the next batter hit a three-run home run to go up 7-0. The Rams added another run to go up 8-0 but the damage was done.
 
The Vikings were unable to get anything going in the bottom of the seventh and fell by the final score of 8-0.
 
Goranson went 2-for-3 with a stolen base in the game. She leads the team with a .400 batting average and four runs scored on the season. She walked five times over the weekend and went 4-for-5 in stolen base attempts.
 
Crawford got the no decision while Hendrix picked up her first loss of the season. The Vikings finished the Kajikawa Classic with a 2-3 record for the second straight year.
 
Portland State will hit the road again next week for five games at the Wilson/DeMarini Desert Classic hosted by UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev. They will take on UTEP, Cal State Northridge, Utah Valley, Boise State, and Hawai'i at the classic.