HILLSBORO, Ore. - The NM State softball team (15-13) swept Portland State (3-16) in thrilling fashion Tuesday evening in Hillsboro, Ore. The Aggies defeated the Vikings 3-2 in the first game and 5-4 in the second game. The Aggies have now won six straight and head into WAC play with the best record in the conference.

Game One
Home runs from Matalasi Faapito and Kayla Bowen combined with some great pitching and defense would lead the Aggies to its fifth straight win in a 3-2 pitcher's duel. The Aggies never trailed thanks to a solo home run from Faapito in the first inning. This was Faapito's 10th home run of the year and her sixth in the last eight games. The Vikings evened up the game on a solo home run in the fourth inning. A double in the fifth inning by Maya Martinez gave the lead back to the Aggies, and Bowen extended the lead in the sixth with her fifth home run of the year. 

Felicia De La Torre was terrific all game and tied her career high with nine strikeouts. De La Torre was able to get the Aggies out of multiple jams as the Vikings left seven runners on base including. In the seventh inning, De La Torre stopped the Viking's rally as they had cut the lead to one and had runners on second and third, but De La Torre recorded a strikeout to end the game.

De La Torre went 5.2 innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits while striking out nine.

Game Two
Down to its last strike, NM State relied on Bowen to deliver, and she came through in a big way with a two-RBI triple to give the Aggies the lead in the final inning. Down 4-3, Hope Banales led off the seventh inning with a triple to put the Aggies in prime scoring position. Faapito would draw a walk, and with Antuanett Dean pinch running, the Aggies stole second base putting runners on second and third with two outs. Bowen fought off pitch after pitch to run the count full before going opposite field to bring Banales and Dean home.

Chloe Rivas shut down the Vikings in the bottom half of the inning, and the game ended on a beautiful 1-6-3 double play to give the Aggies its sixth straight win. Rivas came in to relieve for Faapito in the fifth inning and got to work right away, getting the Aggies out of a bases loaded jam to keep the Vikings lead to two. In 2.2 innings, Rivas allowed just one hit and struck out two. She was credited with the win to improve to 4-0 on the year. 

The Aggies continue its trip in the Pacific Northwest on Friday and Saturday when they open conference play against Seattle U. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. before finishing the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network.

For updates throughout the season, follow the Aggies on Twitter (@NMStateSoftball), Instagram (@nmstatesoftball) and Facebook (NM State Softball). 

Notes

• Tonight was the Aggies first win in a true road game. The Aggies were 0-6 in true road games coming into today.
• The Aggies are 9-3 on the season in games decided by two runs or less. 
• Hailey Tanori extended her hitting streak to 12 games which is the longest of her career.
• Kayla Bowen is currently on a seven-game hitting streak and has hit home runs in four out of the last seven games
• Felicia De La Torre tied her career high for strikeouts with nine in the first game. In the last four games, De La Torre has struck out 25 batters.
• Ramsay Lopez and Matalasi Faapito are each on four-game hitting streaks. Faapito picked up her team-leading 10th home run of the season while Lopez is right behind her with six home runs on the season.