PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland State softball team closed out its fall schedule by going 2-2 over the weekend. The Vikings split a pair of games on Saturday in Eugene, and then did the same today in Corvallis.
The Vikings knocked off host Oregon, 1-0, on Saturday before falling to Southern Oregon, 3-1. No stats were available for the two games. Freshman Anna Bertrand was the winner against the Ducks.
On Sunday, Bertrand pitched the Viks to a 8-1 win over Concordia in Corvallis. PSU then dropped a 4-1 contest to host Oregon State. Both games were called early due to a prearranged 1 hour, 30 minute time limit.
Portland State pounded out 10 hits against the Cavaliers, and Bertrand allowed four hits while striking out five and walking five. Arielle Wiser and Danielle Lynn both had two hits for the Vikings.
PSU opened up a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third on a two-run single by Becca Diede. The Vikings then tacked on four more runs in the fourth, with Wiser driving in a pair of runs on a single.
Lynn and Lacey Holm also drove in runs, while Holm and De'Chauna Skinner both hit a double.
The Vikings got on the board in the first inning against Oregon State but were blanked over the final four frames.
Wiser reached base to lead off the game on a throwing error by OSU third baseman Alana Ford, and then moved up a base on a wild pitch. After a ground out by Brandi Campos put her at third, Wiser scored on a base hit up the middle by Brandi Scoggins.
Tori Rogers took the loss despite allowing just three hits. The senior righty struck out four and walked five.
Portland State head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk came away pleased with her team's offensive outburst in the opening game on Sunday, but said she'd still like to see her squad come together more as a team.
"Offensively in that first game today we did better than we have all fall," said Echo-Hawk, who is entering her second year. "It's just a matter of them getting a little more confidence in their at-bats. We are going to be good as long as we come together as a team."
Throughout their fall schedule, the Vikings did not have the services of Pacific Coast Softball Conference Pitcher of the Year Nichole Latham. The junior right-hander is still recovering from off-season foot surgery. That meant Echo-Hawk got to give Bertrand plenty of work.
"We saw some good things from her, but also some things that we need to work on. She's a freshman and she's only going to get better. Our job is to make her a little bit stronger mentally, a little bit more aware of the college game and how to work batters a little bit better. She has a bright future."
With Bertrand, Rogers and Latham in the circle, the Vikings should have one of the most dominating staffs in the PCSC come springtime.
The defending PCSC Champion Vikings open up the 2010 season Feb. 11-14 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.