Wolverines spoil softball’s conference opener

After the first week of league play, Portland State softball already has some ground to make up in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference.

The Vikings opened league play over the weekend by dropping three of four games to the visiting Utah Valley Wolverines at Erv Lind Stadium on Saturday and Sunday. With the losses, PSU falls to 13-15 overall and 1-3 in conference, taking them from first place to fourth in the PCSC’s Mountain Division standings.

Utah Valley took Saturday’s games 5-4 and 4-1 before splitting victories with PSU the next day. The Vikings shut out the Wolverines 10-0 in six innings on Sunday afternoon, but Utah Valley secured the series win with a 2-0 victory that evening.

PSU head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk said her thoughts about the weekend were hard to put into words.

“I know some people would be disappointed and frustrated,” she said. “But we still have a lot of games left in conference and we still control our own destiny, as far as how well we do in the next couple of weeks.

“It wasn’t what I wanted for our first weekend out, but we learned some things and figured out some things we need to work on. And now we just have to keep moving forward.”

The weekend marked the first time that a series with UVU was ever set in Portland, and in their first visit the Wolverines wreaked havoc on the Viking ship. Despite being outhit by the Vikings, 30-20, Utah Valley became the first team to take a PCSC series in Portland since Sacramento State took two-of-three from the Viks in 2005.

Utah Valley (10-19, 3-1 PCSC) remains in second place in the division after Northern Colorado took over the top spot with a 4-0 league record.

Senior pitcher Nichole Latham earned one win in two appearances to improve to 8-7 on the season. Latham allowed just 10 hits with three walks and six strikeouts in 13 innings and she now ranks second in the PCSC in wins and for her 1.87 ERA.

Sophomore Anna Bertrand earned two losses, despite tallying 20 strikeouts and scattering 14 hits over 13 innings. Bertrand leads the league in Ks (102), strikeouts looking (37) and in lowest opponents’ batting average (.228).

On the season, Latham and Bertrand are combined for a 2.69 ERA and a .241 opponents’ batting average.

“We’re still a very strong pitching staff, and they have a lot of confidence,” Echo-Hawk said. “Now we just have to make sure we score runs for them.”

Game 1 of the series began with the Vikings taking the early lead with a three-run second inning. Junior infielder Karmen Holladay doubled to right field to drive in two runs before senior outfielder Brandi Campos brought Holladay around off an outfield single. The Wolverines, though, were quick to respond. A three-run inning in the top of the third tied the game at 3-all and two runs in the fourth gave UVU a 5-3 lead.

Bertrand was able to hold off the UVU offense with three-up-three-down innings in both the fifth and sixth to give the Viking offense a chance to reclaim the lead, but PSU’s one-run sixth inning did not prove to be enough and the go-ahead run was left stranded at first base.

In seven innings of work, Bertrand scattered six hits while striking out 12 batters for the eighth double-digit strikeout game of her career, and her second this season.

In Game 2, Utah Valley struck first with a two-run long ball in the top of the fourth. Portland State sliced UVU’s lead to 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning when Holladay hit an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning, but it would be the only run the Vikings could get on the scoreboard. The Wolverines added two insurance runs in the sixth inning for the final score of 4-1.

On Sunday, the Vikings put an end to their six-game losing streak in Game 3 of the series with a 10-0 shutout of the Wolverines. Latham held UVU to just two singles over six innings and had the Viking offense backing her up with 11 hits along the way.

The Vikings put up one run in the second inning off an RBI single from freshman Crysta Conn before coming alive with three more runs in the top of the fourth. Sophomore Carly McEachran took a 2-1 pitch past the center field fence for her third home run of the season and RBIs from Campos and senior shortstop Arielle Wiser gave PSU a 4-0 lead.

Led by a grad slam from Holladay and a solo shot from freshman Kayla Norrie, Portland State put the game out of reach with a six-run sixth inning.

The Wolverines held the Vikings to only four hits in the final game of the series and secured the series win with a solo home run in the third inning and a RBI single in the fifth. PSU attempted to rally in the top of the seventh, but the offense couldn’t get a runner beyond first base. Despite striking out eight batters and holding UVU to only four hits as well, Bertrand took the loss to fall to 5-8 on the season.

Holladay went 6-of-11 on the weekend with half of those hits going for extra bases. She is batting .250 with nine RBIs on the season. Echo-Hawk described Holladay’s performance as “outstanding.”

“I knew that that is what she was capable of,” Echo Hawk added. “She had a rough start and she just kept working and kept working. I told my assistant coach before conference started, ‘I think Karmen is going to break out in conference.’ And she did just that. She was our go-to, she had power numbers… she just had a huge impact on our team this weekend.”

Sophomore catcher Lacey Holm leads the Vikings with a .368 batting average and ranks sixth in the PCSC in hitting and fourth in runs batted (22). She went 3-of-13 at the plate against UVU. Junior outfielder Jenna Krogh sits in 12th place in the league with a .337 average and is in a three-way tie to lead the league with three triples.

Moving forward, Echo-Hawk feels the only adjustment that needs to be made to her team is that they need to remain confident.

“[We just need to] maintain our focus and our confidence and just keep playing the way we know how to play. And hopefully, if we take care what we need to, some other teams will give Utah Valley some losses and everything will work in our favor.”

“Ultimately, we just need to play our kind of softball and good things will happen.”

Vikings next travel to Pocatello, Idaho this weekend for a four-game series with the Idaho State Bengals on Saturday and Sunday. Portland State does not play at home until April 26, when the Vikings host North Dakota for a non-conference doubleheader. ?