HILLSBORO, Ore.  – Senior OF Brianna Celaya powered the Vikings to a doubleheader sweep of the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, to take the series, Friday afternoon at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex in Hillsboro, Ore.
 
The Vikings picked up their second run-rule win of the season with an 8-0 win in five innings to start the day. They capped off the sweep with a 5-0 win in game two, to take the series. It was the first back-to-back shutout of the season for the Vikings.
 
"It was a huge day for us. Both Karyn (Wright) and Megan (Hendrix) did a fantastic job today. For us to not give up a run was monstrous," third-year Head Coach Barb Sherwood said following the games. "We had a tremendous defensive day behind them as well. Offensively, we put runners in motion and we scored them. We had really good situational hitting against all four UND pitchers that we saw today."

Celaya had the bat working all day, going 5-for-6 at the plate with four runs scored, two doubles, five runs batted in, and her third home run of the season. She went 2-for-3 in the first game and 3-for-3 in game two.
 
It was not just Celaya who was hot at the plate, it was the entire Vikings' offense. Portland State hit .360 on the day out-hitting North Dakota 18-to-5 between the two games.
 
Junior IF Shae Nelson hit .571, going 4-for-7 with a run scored, a double, and a run batted in. Senior OF Candice Orozco plated two runs, scored twice, going 2-for-5 at the plate.
 
For as good as the Vikings were at the plate, they were just as dominate in the circle. Senior RHP Karyn Wright and junior LHP Meagan Hendrix both threw complete-game shutouts Friday. They allowed UND to hit just .122 on the day.
 
Game 1 – Portland State 8, North Dakota 0 (5 Innings)
 
North Dakota threatened with back-to-back singles to start game one. The Fighting Hawks ended up loading the bases with two outs but Wright was able to get her first strikeout of the day to end the threat.
 
Wright allowed just two base runners over the next four innings, a single and a hit by pitch, en route to her second complete-game shutout of the season. She allowed just three hits, walked one, and struck out two to improve to 3-5 with the win.
 
Portland State was held hitless over the first three innings of the game. Ashley Smith led off the fourth with the Vikings' first hit of the game, an infield single to third. She was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and then moved to third on a single through the right side by Candice Orozco.
 
Celeya drove in Smith with a single through the left side to put the Vikings up 1-0. After the second out of the inning, Katherine Kramer and Jenna Stanford hit back-to-back RBI singles to put the Vikings up 3-0 at the end of the fourth.
 
Nelson led off the bottom of the fifth with a single up the middle. Smith then singled up the middle to put two runners on. Alex Flores reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases with nobody out. Orozco was hit by a pitch to drive in a run and make it a 4-0 game.
 
Celaya drove in two more runs with a double to left field to make it a 6-0 game with runners on second and third with nobody out. After Melissa Masters was hit by a pitch to load the bases, a wild pitch allowed Orozco to score to put PSU up 7-0. The other two runners were able to both move up into scoring position.
 
Kramer came up with her first game-winning hit for the Vikings with a RBI single to drive in Celaya and give the Vikings the 8-0 run-rule win in five innings.
 
The Vikings tallied all eight of their runs, and all nine of their hits in game one, over the final two frames of the game.
 
Celaya, Smith, and Kramer each tallied a pair of hits in game one.
 
Game 2 – Portland State 5, North Dakota 0
 
The Fighting Hawks started the second game of the day like they did the first, getting the leadoff batter on base with a single. And just like in game one, they were unable to do anything else the rest of the game.
 
Hendrix gave up a hit in the first, a hit in the second, and a walk in the third for the only UND base runners of the game. After a walk and a fielder's choice in the top of the third, Hendrix retired the final 13 batters of the game en rout to the shutout. Hendrix improved to 3-4 on the season with the win.
 
The Portland State bats did not take long to warm up in game two as the Vikings plated a run in the bottom of the first to go up 1-0.
 
Celaya led off the bottom of the second with a solo home run to left field, her third of the year, to put the Vikings up 2-0. They added an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth to increase their advantage to 3-0.
 
Portland State plated two more runs in the bottom of the fifth on back-to-back RBI singles by Orozco and Celaya to go up by a final 5-0 margin.
 
Nelson and Celaya each recorded three-hit games for the Vikings in game two.
 
Portland State improved to 11-20 overall on the season and 5-3 in Big Sky Conference play with the doubleheader sweep. North Dakota fell to 11-25 and 0-6.
 
The Vikings have now won back-to-back Big Sky series for the first time this season and will go for their first series sweep Saturday in the series finale, which is slated for a 12 p.m. first pitch.
 
Saturday's game will be Alumni Day for the Vikings as they honor the 1991 Portland State Softball team that finished third at the NCAA Division II Championships. The Vikings will also honor all of their alumni in attendance throughout the game.