It was a weekend of celebration for the Portland State softball team.
The squad ended its regular season in grand fashion, taking three games out of four at Loyola Marymount and recording a few impressive milestones in the process.
The Vikings began the festivities on Saturday afternoon, winning both games of a doubleheader to clinch their second PCSC title in four years.
The wins at Loyola’s home park were the first for the Vikings since the 2005 campaign, bringing their career mark against the Lions at Smith Field to 6-10.
Coming into the series, the Vikings needed only to win two of the four games to claim the conference title, and they took care of business fast.
Sophomore pitcher Nichole Latham had an outstanding showing in the first game, allowing just three hits and shutting down the normally powerful Loyola offense. The shutout was her third of the season and boosted her overall record to 15-11.
The second contest of the series featured a flurry of offense from the Vikings, including a three-for-three batting day for senior Kristin Wilson and a tally of three RBIs for catcher Brandi Scoggins. Senior Jana Rae Slayton also came up big with a single in the Vikings’ four-run seventh inning, helping them overtake the Lions and secure the doubleheader sweep.
By starting the first game on Saturday at first base, Slayton broke the Portland State career record for most games played and by the end of the weekend she had amassed a record 227 starts for her college career, all at first base.Junior pitcher Tori Rogers also padded her season record of 11-5, going the distance while giving up five hits and two earned runs.
On Sunday, the Vikings split the pair of games with the Lions, winning the first in six innings by a score of 10-2.
Senior Jackie Heide belted a grand slam in the third inning for her 12th home run of the season and the 32nd of her four-year tenure at Portland State. The homer also set a new school record for most career home runs, a mark that longtime slugger and pitching star Mandy Hill had held.
But Heide wasn’t done yet as the sixth inning saw her continue the offensive onslaught with a single to right centerfield. The hit scored Brandi Campos and Jamee Rauch, and capped her career-high six-RBI performance.
Slayton then singled to bring Heide home, pushing the score to 10-2 and ending the game early in the sixth. Again, Latham earned the victory, scattering four hits in five innings to move up to 16-11 on the season.
In the final game of the series, the Lions’ bats broke out of the slump that plagued them in the first three contests, registering 15 hits to best the Vikings 9-4.
At that point, however, the Vikings had already matched the program’s best PCSC record of 15-5 (set in 2006) and clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Having earned their spot in the postseason, the Vikings must now wait to find out where and who they will play. The four-team regional field will be announced on Sunday, May 9, and the first round of action will kick off the weekend of May 15.