GREELEY, Colo. – The Portland State softball team used 15 hits to climb past Northern Colorado in extra innings 9-6 on Saturday.

The win marks the first victory for the Vikings in Big Sky action as they move to 1-5 in conference play while the Bears drop to 2-4.

Portland State got on the board first in the third inning after a Paetynn Lopez RBI double scored Maddie Thompson to give PSU a 1-0 lead.

After the Bears secured a 2-1 advantage in their half of the third, Viking center fielder Tayler Gunesch was quick to respond, knotting the score at 2 with an RBI single in the fourth.

The next Viking lead came in the fifth inning when Rachel Menlove and Emily Johansen put together a pair of RBI to take a 4-3 lead, where it stayed until the bottom of the seventh.

A Northern Colorado home run in the final frame knotted the score at 4, pushing the game to extras.

Marissa Bruno wasted no time in the eighth, slamming a two-RBI single down the left-field line to go up 6-4. Thompson followed with an RBI of her own and Menlove added two more slamming an RBI double to right-center.

Entering the bottom half of the eighth with a comfortable 9-4 lead, Allicitie Frost got the job done in the circle for the Vikings. The true freshman entered the game with two on and no outs but held the Bears to just two runs to clinch the victory at 9-6.

Marisol Gaona earned the win in the circle for Portland State, her first of the season. The sophomore tossed 3-1 innings while giving up three runs after taking over for Seraffine Parrish in the fourth.

The Vikings offense totaled 15 hits over eight innings. Thompson and Lopez led the way recording three hits and combining for a pair of RBI. Menlove notched a team-high 3 RBI while three other Vikings saw multi-hit games in the series finale.

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PSU will look to build on the win as they prep for a three-game series at Southern Utah next weekend.