HILLSBORO – The Portland State softball team earned a five-inning shutout victory in game one against Idaho State on Friday before falling in extra innings 3-2 in game two at Gordon Faber Recreation Complex.
The Vikings moved to 6-22 overall and 3-8 in conference action while the Bengals improved to 1-7 in conference play and 7-19 on the year.
Olivia Grey earned her third victory of the season in game one as she piloted the Vikings to an 8-0 run-rule victory in her first shutout performance of the year. The Vikings' offense was hot in the opening game as they used five hits to take an early 6-0 lead in the second inning.
PSU struck again in the bottom of the fourth as
Tayler Gunesch and
Olivia Dean strung together a pair of RBI singles to extend the Viking lead to 8-0. Olivia grey finished things off in the top half of the fifth, retiring three straight Bengals to lock in the victory.
Maddie Thompson,
Shea Garcia, and Dean combined for six of the Vikings ten hits in the opening game while Garcia added a team-high two RBI.
True freshman
Bailey Rose started on the rubber for Portland State in game two. The Bengals found a way to shut down the potent Viking offense for the majority of the contest. Gunesch was the lone Viking to cross the plate in the opening eight innings, doing so in the bottom of the second off a double steal.
Holding the Bengals scoreless until the top of the seventh, the Vikings found themselves just one out away from the victory but Idaho State had other plans, slamming a two-out solo home run to send the game to extra innings.
After a scoreless eighth inning, the Bengals drew a pair of walks in the ninth before PSU's
Serafine Parrish replaced Rose in the circle. ISU slammed back-to-back singles to score a pair of runs and take a 3-1 lead.
Portland State was in business in the bottom of the ninth as they loaded the bases with nobody out. Menlove had the only RBI of the inning, knocking an RBI single to score Ashlyn Monore. The Bengals found a way to shut down the final three batters of the frame as they secured the 3-2 nine-inning win.
Rose took the loss for PSU after pitching a solid 8.1 innings, allowing just four hits. Despite the loss, the Vikings out-hit the Bengals 8-6 as Gunesch and Dean led the way with two each.
UP NEXT:
Portland State will look to clinch its first series victory with a rubber match victory tomorrow. The series finale is set for noon on Saturday at Gordon Faber Field 4.
