HILLSBORO - The Portland State softball team shined bright on Friday as they picked up back-to-back shutout victories over Sacramento State on Senior Day at Gordon Faber Field.

The Vikings earned a 3-0 win to begin the day before following it up with a commanding 8-0 five-inning win to clinch the series

Redshirt senior Katie Schroeder started in the circle for Portland State as she had a career day, fittingly so, leaving it all on the rubber in light of her final weekend at Gordon Faber.  

Holding the Sacramento State offense hitless through three full innings, Schroeder paved the way for an early 1-0 Viking lead as Tayler Gunesch slammed a solo home run to begin her own Senior Day.

Following a pair of uncharacteristic errors from the PSU defense, Schroeder was able to shut the door, stranding two base runners to hold on to the 1-0 lead.

In need of a few insurance runs, Paetynn Lopez was the one for the job. The freshman knocked a pinch-hit double to left-center to extend the Viking lead to 3-0 heading into the final inning.

Schroeder locked in just the third shutout win of the season for Portland State and her first win of the year as she made quick work of the Hornet offense to clinch the 3-0 shutout. 

Marissa Bruno and Gunesch each tallied two hits in the contest, counting for half of the Vikings eight total. Schroeder finished the game allowing just three hits while striking out five.

With the momentum on their side, the Viking's starting pitcher Olivia Grey had plans to keep it that way in game two.

The opening four innings were a pitching duel, as there were just five hits recorded between the two teams. It was a four-hit fifth inning that broke things open for Portland State as they loaded the bases with two outs. Alexa Cepeda knocked a two-RBI single to center field but the play didn't stop there. A flustered Sacramento State defense was unable to take care of the ball, committing two errors during the play allowing Cepeda to end up right back where she started, this time with a 4-0 lead.

Lopez followed her fellow freshman by adding one more for the Vikings as they headed to the fifth up by five. Grey continued to dominate in the circle and the PSU offense did the same at the plate in the bottom of the fifth. Hannah Bell tacked on two runs with an RBI single before redshirt senior Marissa Bruno put the cherry on top of an impressive day, slamming a two-RBI double to clinch the 8-0 run-rule victory.

Grey allowed just one hit on the way to her second shutout in Conference play. Bruno led offensively going 3-4 while Gunesch and Mariah Rodriguez added four of the Vikings' 12 hits.

PSU will look for the series sweep tomorrow in game three at Gordon Faber Recreation Complex at noon. Due to potential rain, the game will not be live-streamed online.