SEATTLE – The University of North Dakota softball team dropped a pair of games to Portland State and Seattle University on Saturday afternoon on the opening day of the Seattle University Invitational.
 
UND (13-17) fell, 6-3, to former Big Sky Conference foe Portland State to begin the day before closing Saturday with a 6-2 defeat against the host-Redhawks to see its losing streak stretch to four straight.
 
Portland State 6, North Dakota 3
North Dakota fell behind, 6-0, before nearly rallying in the late innings but eventually fell, 6-3, to the Vikings in the first of two weekend meetings between the former conference opponents.
 
Kayleen Schneider and Angel Love led the way at the plate for the Fighting Hawks, as Schneider finished with a team-high two hits in three at-bats and a run scored while Love drove in a pair of runs with one hit to pace the team.
 
Jannay Jones tossed 2.2 innings in the start, allowing six unearned runs, four hits, four walks, and struck out three to be handed her sixth loss of the season. Emily Rosas pitched the final 3.1 frames in relief for the Hawks, not allowing a run and surrendering only three hits in the outing.
 
After a scoreless 2.5 innings to start the game, Portland State broke the game open in the bottom of the third with six runs. The Vikings tallied all of their runs with two outs in the inning, as a pair of errors kept the inning alive for PSU to allow the big inning.
 
UND shut down the Vikings for the rest of the game, and began to mount its comeback in the top of the sixth inning. After Schneider led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a groundout, Marina Marzolino extended the inning by reaching on an error that allowed Schneider to score and get the Hawks on the board. Following a Dani Romero single, Love drove both Marzolino and Romero home with an RBI double, but was thrown out trying to advance to third to end the inning trailing 6-3.
 
The Hawks had a final push as a pair of runners reached in the top of the seventh, but Portland State held on for the 6-3 victory.
 
Seattle U 6, North Dakota 2
Seattle used a three-run second inning to pull ahead of the Fighting Hawks before holding on, 6-2, to close out Saturday's action at the Seattle University Invitational.
 
UND took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Redhawks answered with runs in the first, second, and fourth innings before the seventh-inning rally by the visitors came up short.
 
Four-different Fighting Hawks recorded hits while Schneider led the way with the lone RBI of the contest for the green and white. Marzolino and Ashlynn Uvila finished with a hit and a walk to reach base multiple times in the loss.
 
Nikki Pica was handed her seventh loss of the season for UND, tossing four innings of six-hit, six-run (five earned) ball. The junior also walked four and struck out a tetrad of hitters while Rosas appeared once again in relief to throw two innings of scoreless action.
 
Marzolino got the Fighting Hawks on the board first in the top of the opening frame when she came around to score on a passed ball to put the visitors in front, 1-0, after just a half inning of play. Seattle took control over the next two innings by scoring four runs to take a 4-1 advantage after two.
 
The Redhawks extended the advantage to 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run homer before UND once again began to rally in the late innings.
 
Uvila drew a walk in the top of the seventh to lead off the frame before advancing to second and third on a pair of wild pitches and Lexi Mayhood walked to place runners on the corners with just one out. Schneider cut the lead to 6-2 with a sacrifice fly, but the Hawks couldn't get any closer as Seattle held on for the 6-2 win.
 
North Dakota returns to action tomorrow afternoon to close out tournament play. The Fighting Hawks will battle Portland State at noon before ending the weekend with Seattle at 2:30 p.m.