Game 1 Box Score - PDF | HTML
Game 2 Box Score - PDF | HTML

HILLSBORO, Ore. – The Portland State softball team dropped a pair of games to the Sacramento State Hornets Friday afternoon at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex in Hillsboro, Ore. Sacramento State edged Portland State 3-1 in the first game and then won 10-3 in extra innings.
 
The Vikings hit .245 on the day off one of the best pitching staffs in the Big Sky Conference. Junior Brianna Celaya and senior Aubrey Nitschelm each recorded three hits and a run batted in on the day.
 
Celaya improved her season batting average to .311. She entered the Vikings' April 1 doubleheader with Seattle U batting .182. She has hit .365 over the last 18 games, including six multi-hit games, to push her season average to .311.
 
Nitschelm pushed her season hitting mark to .319 overall and .417 in conference play. She leads the team with 30 hits during league play and has hit safely in each of the last five games.
 
Senior IF Brittany Hendrickson extended her current hitting streak to a career-high 10 games after going 2-for-5 against the Hornets, hitting safely in each game. Hendrickson is hitting a team-high .399 overall and .426 in league play.
 
The Hornets took an early 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning off game one starter Kristen Crawford. They plated another run off Crawford in the top of the second to go up 3-0.
 
After early struggles, Crawford settled down and allowed only two runners to reach second base over the next five innings.
 
Hendrickson led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a walk and came around to score on a doubled down the left field line by Celaya to get the Vikings on the board.
 
Portland State got runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth innings but was unable to plate another run off Sacramento State starting pitcher Caitlin Brooks and fell 3-1.
 
Brooks allowed just one run on five hits over seven innings. She walked one and struck out 13 to move to 12-5 on the season with the win.
 
Crawford fell to 7-12 after allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits over seven innings in the losing effort.
 
Portland State got the scoring going in the bottom of the first inning in game two. Ashley Smith singled through the left side to leadoff the inning. Smith moved to second on a stolen base before Rayleen Pallan moved her to third on a sacrifice bunt. Hendrickson grounded out to second, which brought in Smith to put PSU up 1-0.
 
The Vikings added another run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Nitschelm led off the inning with an infield single before Celaya walked. Alex Flores moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt for the first out.
 
Melissa Masters singled to right field to drive in Nitschelm and move Celaya to third. After the next batter popped out to the catcher behind the plate, Masters attempted to steal second. She got caught in a rundown trying to allow Celaya to score from third.
 
Before Celaya could score, Masters was tagged out for the third out of the inning. The Vikings did plate a run in the inning to make the score 2-1.
 
Sacramento State cut the lead in half with an unearned run in the top of the fifth. Portland State countered with a run in the bottom of the fifth after Pallan singled with one out. Nitschelm singled up the middle to drive her in to make the score 3-1.
 
The Hornets tied the game in the top of the sixth with two runs off Portland State game two starting pitcher, Karyn Wright.
 
Wright gave up a home run off the left field pole with two outs to make the score 3-2. The next batter tripled and then scored on a single up the middle to tie the game at 3-3.
 
Neither team did anything in the seventh as the game moved into extra innings. After getting the first out of the inning, the wheels fell off the proverbial wagon for Wright and the Vikings as the Hornets plated seven runs on three hits, a walk, a hit by pitch, and two PSU errors.
 
When all was said and done, Sacramento State led 10-3 heading to the bottom of the eighth. The Vikings could not get a rally started in their half of the inning and fell by the final 10-3 score.
 
Wright picked up the loss falling to 4-9 on the season. She allowed seven runs, six earned, on 11 hits over 7 1/3 innings.
 
The Hornets took the series with the doubleheader win and improved to 25-24 overall and 14-6 in conference play while Portland State fell to 16-34 and 8-12.
 
The Vikings came into the day shorthanded, as Meagan Hendrix, Shae Nelson, and Lauran Bliss were all unable to play.

Portland State will have a chance to salvage a game Saturday in the season finale. The game will be Senior Day for Hendrickson, Nitschelm, and Raya Johnson. It will also be Little League Softball Appreciation Day. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m. PT.