OGDEN, Utah – The Portland State softball team fell 5-4 to No. 6 seed Montana in eight innings in its Big Sky Championship Tournament opener on Wednesday afternoon at Wildcat Softball Field. 

The loss dropped the Vikings (26-17, 10-5 BSC) to the must-win portion of the bracket, where they will face five-seed Idaho State Thursday at 11 AM PT in an elimination matchup. Montana (20-25, 6-11 BSC) advanced to the quarterfinals and will take on No. 2 Sacramento State this afternoon.

Montana's scoring began quickly in the first inning with back-to-back home runs to take a two-run lead.

With a solo shot of her own, Natalia Martinez tied the game for the Vikings in the second. Alexa Cepeda continued the rally, tying the game with an RBI single to score Kiara McCrea. Cepeda struck again an inning later, knocking an identical RBI single to left field to put the Vikings on top 3-2. In the fourth, Olivia Dean ripped a leadoff triple allowing Emily Johansen to score her with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 4-2.

Vikings starting pitcher Olivia Grey settled down after the first, holding Montana at two runs until the fifth when the Grizzlies took advantage of back-to-back bases loaded walks to knot the game at four.

The Vikings gave themselves a chance in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with one out. The Grizzlies managed to escape the jam, exploiting an unsuccessful suicide squeeze before retiring the final batter.

Montana carried their momentum into extra innings, resulting in a two-out RBI double in the top of the eighth to take a 5-4 lead. The Vikings didn't go down without a fight, getting a runner into scoring position in the final frame before Montana secured the victory.

Portland State out-hit the Grizzlies 11-6 as Cepeda led the charge with three hits.

The Viking's title dreams are still alive as they look to advance tomorrow afternoon with a win over five-seed Idaho State (11 am PT).