POCATELLO, Idaho – The Portland State softball team earned its first Big Sky victory of the season Friday, splitting a doubleheader at Idaho State. The Vikings dropped game one, 10-7, before responding with a 9-4 win in game two to even the series at Miller Ranch Stadium.
The game-two win ended a five-game losing skid for PSU, improving the Vikings to 11-23 overall and 1-4 in conference play. Idaho State moved to 26-15 overall and 3-2 in the Big Sky.
At least one run was scored in 10 of the 14 innings in the high-scoring doubleheader, with the Vikings scoring in five straight innings to close the day. Portland State totaled 17 hits across the two games, including 12 in game two—one shy of its season high—while adding seven extra-base hits, four of which were home runs. Sofia Peato led the Vikings with five RBI on the day, highlighted by a pinch-hit grand slam in game one.
The Bengals struck first in the opener with a leadoff home run and added another run in the inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Vikings responded in the second with a two-run home run from Rylee Gaustad, the first of her career, to tie the game.
The score remained even until the fourth, when Idaho State regained control with three runs, two of which were unearned, to go up 5-2.
Portland State answered with its biggest inning of the day in the fifth. After loading the bases with a hit batter and two walks, Nichole Orozco drew an RBI walk before Peato followed with a pinch-hit grand slam to center, giving the Vikings a 7-5 lead. Idaho State responded in the bottom half with a two-run home run to tie the game, then added three runs in the sixth to take a 10-7 lead. The Vikings put their first two runners on in the seventh but couldn't complete the comeback.
The Vikings scattered five hits in the loss compared to Idaho State's nine, with Gaustad accounting for two. Giselle Pantoja and Gracie Walters split time in the circle, with Pantoja throwing four innings before Walters took over in the fifth.
Looking to shift momentum, the Vikings struck first in game two. An RBI single from Orozco and a sacrifice fly from Peato in the third gave PSU a 2-0 lead. With Sherreigh Nakoa-Chung holding Idaho State scoreless through the first three innings, the Vikings added to their advantage in the fourth on RBI from Nakoa-Chung and Grace Johnson.
Idaho State answered with a four-run fourth, highlighted by a three-run home run, to tie the game at 4-4.
Continuing the back-and-forth, Sierra Llamas broke the tie in the fifth with a two-run home run. The Vikings extended their lead in the sixth on another two-run homer, this one from Breanna Lutz, to make it 8-4. An RBI walk in the seventh pushed the lead to 9-4, and Portland State closed it out in the bottom half to secure the win and set up a rubber match in the series finale.
Nakoa-Chung recorded her ninth complete game of the season, earning the win to improve to 6-7 while adding six strikeouts. The Vikings put at least one runner on base in six of the nightcap's seven innings and saw multi-hit performances from Lutz, Llamas, Abigail Carsley and Mia Martinez.
The series will be decided Saturday, April 4, with game three scheduled for 12:00 p.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. MT at Miller Ranch Stadium.
