HILLSBORO, Ore. – Portland State let a pair of games slip away against the Boise State Broncos Tuesday afternoon at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex in Hillsboro, Ore. The Vikings led into the sixth in both games before falling 7-5 in game one and 6-2 in game two.
 
Boise State (21-10 overall) took an early 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the top of the first in game one. The Broncos added another run in the top of the second to take an early 2-0 lead.
 
Portland State (8-21) got on the board in the bottom of the second. Rachel Menlove led off the inning with a walk and then came around to score on an error to make it 2-1.
 
The Vikings took advantage of another miscue by the Broncos in the bottom of the third. They plated four runs, all unearned capped by a two-run ground-rule double off the bat of Alexis Morrison to take a 5-2 lead at the end of three.
 
After a pair of scoreless innings Boise State picked up a run in the top of the sixth to make it 5-3 heading to the seventh.
 
After the first batter reached on a fielding error in the top of the seventh, a pair of pop outs on the infield and the Broncos were down to their last out. That is when the inning started to unravel for the Vikings. The next batter hit a two-run home run to tie the game at 5-5. After a hit by pitch and a walk, a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position.
 
Boise State took the lead with a two-run single up the middle to make it 7-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh. The Vikings went in order to drop the first game of the day by the two-run margin.
 
Portland State tallied five hits in the game and scored all five of its runs a pair of Boise State errors.
 
Boise State again took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first in game two. This time, Portland State came right back to tie it at 1-1. Tayler Gunesch led off the first with an infield single. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before moving to third on a single by Kaela Morrow. Gunesch then scored on an error to tie the game.
 
Portland State added a run in the third. Darian Lindsey led off the inning with a double down the left field line. She moved to third on another single from Morrow before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Menlove.
 
After giving up a run in the first, Serafine Parrish settled down and threw four scoreless innings as the Vikings took a 2-1 lead into the sixth. With one out in the sixth, Boise State recorded three-straight hits to drive in a run. A sacrifice fly drove in another run to give the Broncos a 3-2 lead. After a bunt single, a fielding error by the Vikings plated two more runs to give BSU a 5-2 lead.
 
Portland State had a great chance to score in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded and one out. Unfortunately, the next two batters struck out to end the threat.
 
After Boise State plated another run in the top of the seventh to go up 6-2, Portland State went in order in the bottom of the seventh to drop game two by the final four-run margin.
 
Portland State hit.188 as a team, tallying nine hits and seven runs over the two games. Gunesch extended her career-high hitting streak to 15 games after hitting safely in each game. She went 3-for-8 with two runs scored. Morrow went 3-for-7 with a run scored.
 
The Portland State pitching staff allowed 13 runs, just six earned, over 14.0 innings. Each team struggled in the fielding, combining for seven total errors.
 
The Vikings close out their season-long eight-game home stand this weekend with a three-game Big Sky Conference series against the Idaho State Bengals. The series opens with a doubleheader on Friday, March 30. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. PT.