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Portland State University Athletics

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS
Softball
11
Winner Montana UM 25-30
5
Portland State PSU 20-31
Winner
Montana UM
25-30
11
Final
5
Portland State PSU
20-31
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Montana UM 0 2 5 4 0 0 0 11 15 1
Portland State PSU 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 5 12 3

W: Driscoll, Colleen (10-10) L: Parrish, Serafine (3-10)

Game Recap: Softball | | Jackson Wagner

Vikings Fall to Grizzlies, Finish Season With 20 Wins

The pressure had been building Wednesday and it continued to Thursday morning. After four straight games at the Big Sky Championship were dominated by pitching and defense, you couldn't help but wonder when the floodgates would break and the runs would start to flow. Unfortunately for the Portland State Vikings, Thursday morning against No. 3 Montana saw exactly that happen.

The Vikings limited Sacramento State and Weber State to just four combined runs over 21 innings of play on Wednesday, but the Grizzlies scored at least four runs in two seperate innings. A tournament-high 11 runs by Montana ended the Vikings' season in an 11-5 defeat.

Portland State (20-31/8-9 BSC) put forth an incredible effort all tournament long. After winning an 11-inning game in an upset against host Sacramento State on Wednesday morning, they quickly turned around and challenged the conference's top team in Weber State. Again, Portland State played an emotionally and physically draining game, losing 3-2 in the 10th inning.

The Vikings didn't discourage following the loss, but they faced an uphill battle against a Montana team that was upset in the only game out of four on Wednesday that didn't go extra innings.

The season still moved a Portland State team with just two seniors in the right direction. The Vikings won 20 games, the most since a 2013 season that saw them win 25 on their way to a conference championship. Next season, with eight starters back on offense and two pitchers, the Portland State should figure in among the favorites in the Big Sky.

But on Thursday, in another marathon game that, while it didn't go extra innings, did last about two and a half hours, Portland State couldn't match the Montana offense.

The Vikings put forth their best offensive effort of the tournament, scoring five runs on 12 hits. Darian Lindsey scored three of those runs on a 2-for-3 day that also saw her draw a walk to leadoff the game. Marissa Bruno also continued her spectacular tournament performance, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a double.

Tayler Gunesch also delivered for the Vikings with a three-hit, two-RBI day. She hit .462 over the three tournament games and had a team-high three RBIs. Sala Pedebone also had two hits and Alexis Morrison crushed a two-run homer.

The Grizzlies were able to score effectively off starter Serafine Parrish and reliever Katie Schroeder, putting up 11 runs in the first four innings. Senior Alyssa Burk then entered the game, cooling off the Montana bats and settling the ship for the Vikings. She pitched the last three and two thirds innings, allowing just two hits and one run, which came on a solo shot against the first batter she faced.

Burk remained in the game to close it out despite being hit by a shot back up the middle in the seventh inning, courageously finishing out her Portland State career.

The start of the game seemed strangely similar to Wednesday's opening against Sacramento State. Lindsey drew a leadoff walk and stole second - exactly as she had done against the Hornets - and then scored on an RBI double from Bruno.

Montana answered back in the top of the second, taking advantage of two defensive errors by Portland State. A two-out double scored a pair of unearned runs and Montana had its first lead of the tournament.

The game seesawed back in favor of Portland State in the bottom of the second. This time Montana made a defensive error that would have normally ended the inning and Morrison took advantage of her plate appearance, ripping a homer into left field to make it 3-2 Portland State and turn over the Viking lineup.

Lindsey then singled. Bruno followed it up with a single of her own and the Vikings had runners on the corners for Gunesch. She came through with a liner into center field, scoring Lindsey and chasing Montana starter Maddy Stensby from the game.

The lead wouldn't last long, as again the balance shifted in favor of Montana in the third. The Grizzlies scored five runs on seven hits, doing it against both Parrish and Schroeder inside the circle. A quick inning by the PSU offense brought the Grizzlies back to the plate, when the momentum shifted fully in their favor.

They scored four runs on three hits, including back-to-back home runs, to take an 11-4 lead. Burk entered in the inning, and would limit the Grizzlies over the final innings, but the lead would prove to be too large.

Portland State chipped away at the lead in the bottom of the fourth, as once again Lindsey scored on a single from Gunesch, but the Vikings stranded two base runners that inning. In the sixth, the Vikings nearly scored again after a two-out rally saw runners reach the corners, but again Montana escaped the jam. The Vikings went down in order in the seventh, ending the game - 11-5 - and the season.
 
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