Softball finishes fifth in the WAC

The Portland State softball team ended its season last week against the Loyola Marymount Lions. This was Portland States’ chance to pass Loyola Marymount and take fourth in the Western Athletic Conference. Unfortunately, the Lions were the spoilers, sweeping the Vikings, 1-0 and 5-0, in both teams’ season finale.

The Vikings went scoreless and hitless in game one, but kept the Lions close. Both teams were scoreless going into the bottom of the seventh, when LMU’s Jessica Grassi singled down the left-field line for a game winning RBI.

Junior pitcher Morgan Seibert held the Lions to only four hits and had six strikeouts, but the final single was all it took. Seibert finished her junior year 14-16 overall and 6-7 against Western Athletic Conference opponents. Seibert was also named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week during the week of April 22 when she pitched back to back shutouts against Louisiana Tech and Tulsa.

After the no-hitter of game one the Lions sealed up their fourth place standing in the WAC and cruised on to shut out the Vikings 5-0. In game two the Vikings started to get their bats going, but were unable to match the Lions, who out-hit the Vikings 12-6.

The Lions jumped up early, scoring two runs in the first inning. They added two more in the third and one in the fourth. The Vikings just couldn’t get a runner home, leaving three runners on in the fourth and six on base total.

Senior Vanessa Applegate, who didn’t play in the doubleheader due to a injury in the Fresno State game, was honored as Player of the Week for her performance in Portland State’s first ever win against the Bulldogs.

This season the Vikings finished 22-35 overall and 11-13 in the WAC. Showing a steady improvement, the 11 WAC wins are the most the Vikings have recorded since joining the Conference in 2000.