HILLSBORO – The Portland State softball team earned its first Big Sky series win of the season as they clinched the three-game series with a 8-4 victory over Idaho State on Saturday at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex.
 
The Vikings improved to 7-22 on the season and 4-8 in Conference action. ISU fell to 7-20 and 1-8 in Big Sky play.
 
Much like the second game of the series, it was a quiet offensive start for both teams. The Vikings led off every inning with a base hit but were unable to capitalize in their opening four at bats.
 
After being held to just one hit through four innings by Viking starter Olivia Grey, the Bengals finally broke through in the fifth inning. A solo home run and a pair of RBI put them on top 3-0 as Marisol Gaona took things over for PSU in the circle to close out the frame.
 
Alexa Cepeda, Maddie Thompson and Shea Garcia loaded the bases to begin the fifth inning. Emily Johansen locked in the first RBI of the day for the Vikings, sending a sacrifice fly ball to left field. The Vikings pushed two more across in the fifth to knot things at three but it was Paetynn Lopez who broke it open for PSU. With two outs and the bases juiced, the freshman belted a grand slam over the left center fence to put the Vikings up 7-3.
 
Idaho State cut the lead to 7-4 in the top half of the sixth before the Vikings added one more in their half of the inning.
 
Gaona sealed the deal in the seventh, retiring three-straight batters to clinch the series at 2-1 with a 8-4 game three victory.
 
The Vikings tallied 11 hits on the afternoon. Olivia Dean, Marissa Bruno, Cepeda and Thompson each notched two hits in the contest.
 
Grey tossed a solid 4.1 innings, allowing four hits before Gaona took over. Gaona got the win in the circle as she improved to 2-0 on the year.
 
UP NEXT:
The Vikings will continue their homestand next weekend with a series against Sacramento State. They'll begin the weekend with a doubleheader on Friday (1:00 p.m.) and close out the series with a single game on Saturday (12 p.m.). The Vikings will honor nine seniors prior to the game on Saturday.