HILLSBORO, Ore. – The Vikings opened Big Sky Conference play with a doubleheader split with the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on a cold and wet Friday afternoon at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex in Hillsboro, Ore. Portland State took the series opener, 7-2, before falling 9-7 in game two.
 
Portland State (8-18 overall, 1-1 Big Sky) out-hit and out-pitched North Dakota (15-18, 1-1) on the day but a pair of defensive miscues in game two cost the Vikings in the loss.
 
Tayler Gunesch extended her career-high hitting streak to 12 games, which matches the longest by a Viking over the last 10 seasons. She improved her average to .321 on the year after going 3-for-6 with three runs scored, with a pair of walks, over the two games.
 
Darian Lindsey recorded her fifth-straight double-digit hit game after going 2-for-4 with three runs scored in game one and 2-for-3 with a run scored and two driven in in game two. She improved her hitting mark to .311 on the season.
 
Kaela Morrow hit .429 on the day, going 3-for-7 at the plate with a pair of runs scored. She drove in four runs over the two games and hit her team-best sixth home run of the year. It was one of three home runs hit by the Vikings as Kortney Craker and Rachel Menlove also went yard. Portland State has 20 home runs on the year for the first time since hitting 24 in 2015.
 
Alyssa Burk earned her fourth win of the season with her fourth-straight complete game. She allowed just two earned runs on four hits over seven innings in game one. She walked four and struck out 10 batters for her fourth career double-digit strikeout game, second in three games.
 
Burk came on in relief in game two and allowed one hit over 1 2/3 innings, while tallying another strikeout. Over her last four appearances, she has lowered her ERA by nearly three points.
 
After a pair of scoreless innings, the Vikings got on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third in game one. Gunesch walked before moving to third on a single through the right side by Lindsey. Morrow drove in Gunesch with an infield single. The next batter recorded the first out of the inning before Ashley Doyle picked up a sacrifice fly to left to bring in Lindsey from third to make it a 2-0 game.
 
After a leadoff walk came around to score in the top of the fifth, Portland State added three runs, two unearned, in the bottom of the fifth to go up 5-1. Craker, in the game as a pinch hitter, dropped down a perfect squeeze bunt to bring in Gunesch from third for the innings first run. The Vikings added a run on an error and another on a wild pitch to take the four-run lead.
 
North Dakota added a run in the top of the sixth and was poised to add more with two runners on and one out. The next batter hit a shot on the ground down the left field line. Lindsey knocked down the ball right at the third base bag, touched it for the second out before throwing a rocket to first for an inning-ending double-play.
 
After surrendering a run in the top of the sixth, the Vikings came right back with two more in the bottom of the inning to take a 7-2 lead into the seventh. Burk worked around another leadoff walk to pick up her third-straight win. She recorded at least one strikeout in five of the seven innings, including three-straight strikeouts with two runners in scoring position in the second.
 
Gunesch, Lindsey, and Morrow combined to go 6-for-10 with six runs and two RBIs in the win.
 
North Dakota plated a pair of runs in the top of the first in game two off PSU starting pitcher Emma Detamore. The Vikings evened it in the bottom half on a two-run shot by Morrow. Each team plated three runs in the second inning to make it 5-5 heading to the third.
 
After two scoreless innings, North Dakota broke the tie with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Portland State had a chance to even it and take the lead after loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth. After a fielder's choice got the lead runner at the plate for the first out, Craker was hit by a pitch to bring in a run to make it 7-6. Unfortunately, the next two batters struck out to end the Vikings' scoring threat.
 
After Portland State was unable to tie the game in the fifth, the Fighting Hawks plated two more runs, one earned, in the top of the sixth to go up 9-6.
 
After a scoreless bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh, the Vikings were down to their final three outs. Menlove led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run to straight-away center field to make it 9-7. The Vikings got two runners on with two outs but were unable to tie it to fall by the two-run margin.
 
Detamore allowed nine runs, seven earned, on 12 hits over 5 1/3 innings in the losing effort. She walked three and struck out two in the loss.
 
Portland State will go for the series win in the Saturday's rubber-match. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m. PT.