Spring break may have meant sitting on your couch watching movies and sleeping more hours than you were awake. But, for the Portland State women’s softball team spring break was far from a vacation. In fact the girls will be continuing their work this week when they head to Western Oregon University.
The ladies were at work all week playing eight games, but only winning two. Last Wednesday, the Vikings earned a split in a nonconference doubleheader at Erv Lind Stadium with a 4-1 win over Seattle Washington in the second game.
The win broke a seven-game losing streak and put a stop to the Redhawk’s (8-4) six-game winning streak.
The Viks shot out early in the game with a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Seattle scored in the top of the second on a base hit by freshman Kelli Marek, cutting the lead 2-1, but never scored again. Portland State plated two more single runs in both the third and fifth to close out the scoring, leaving themwith the win.
In Game 1, the ladies were not as fortunate, giving the Redhawks the win 8-4. Senior Erin Stockey who leads her team in home runs, brought the Viks within five after hitting her fifth home run of the season to open the seventh. Later in the inning, sophomore Tiffany McHenry added an RBI single, but that wasn’t enough to bring the Viks the victory.
Friday the ladies enjoyed a brief spring break, soaked up a little sun in California, and once again splitting a nonconference doubleheader against Cal Poly at the Bob Janssen Field. The Vikings won Game 1, 5-4 but didn’t have the same success in Game 2, falling 3-1.
Early in game 2 the Viks fell behind 1-0, but jumped back on top with three runs in the top of the second to take the lead 3-1. Senior Annie Peccia hit a single, driving in two runs in the fifth to leave Portland State on top with a final score, 5-4. Peccia hit it big for Portland State, going 5-for-6 with two RBIs and one run against the Mustangs, raising her batting average to .437.
In the second game, Portland State started out ahead, but Cal Poly stepped up to the plate and took the lead 2-1 in the fourth. The Vikings weren’t able to come back and Cal Poly took the win 3-1.
The Vikings headed to Santa Barbara for Saturday’s doubleheader against UC Santa Barbara, but disappointingly, didn’t bring home a win. Portland State started out on fire, scoring the first four runs of the contest, but slowly lost that motivation and scored only once more the rest of the afternoon, losing both games, 5-4 and 8-1 at Campus Diamond.
One of PSU’s early runs was junior Alayna Petersen’s first career home run. Peccia went 2-for-6 with three RBIs, making her the Vikings’ top offensive performer yet again.
UC Santa Barbara scored one in the bottom of the second, two in the third, and two more in the fourth. Portland State committed an error which proved very costly, allowing one unearned run that ended up being the difference in the game.
Game two of the contest was easy money for UCSB who started out with a 5-0 lead and remained in the lead the whole game. The Gauchos added three more in the bottom of the sixth and sealed the game.
Sophomore, Tiffany McHenry scored the one run for the Viks. Portland State completed their spring break trip to California with a record of 1-3. Tuesday Portland State travels to Monmouth, Oregon for a doubleheader against Western Oregon. The first pitch is at 2 p.m.