The UND women’s softball team defeated Portland State in both games Saturday night to capture its first Big Sky Conference wins of the season.

“The bats showed up big for us today,” UND coach Eric Oakley said. “We had struggled lately to get the key hit with runners in scoring position. Hitting coach Amanda Montalto stressed the importance of putting the ball in play in those situations this past week at practice, and the team clearly responded.”

North Dakota won both games with a strong offense, finishing off the Vikings 12-8 and 11-9.

“It was a great overall team effort,” Oakley said.

The two-game sweep came after multiple game delays due to weather conflicts, but the Green and White held on to put UND on the map.

Both games saw North Dakota (3-18, 2-3 Big Sky) fall behind momentarily, but the fourth inning proved to be UND’s strength as the home team scored six runs in the fourth during both games.

Leading for UND were senior shortstop Carolyn Chewning and senior first baseman D Jantzer, who both ran over home plate three times in Game 1 and twice more in the second matchup.

But those runs wouldn’t have been possible without successful at-bats.

Senior Amanda Johnson, freshman Kaylin VanDomelen and senior Elizabeth Cudney all batted in runs in the first game, with sophomore Kim Granata and Jantzer doing the same in the second game.

The Vikings (4-23, 1-4) made a rally in the second game, getting seven runs in seven hits, but UND was able to keep a lid on the guest’s scoring and put the game away for its second consecutive win.

Weather quickly became an issue again, preventing a third game between the teams Sunday — but after this weekend, North Dakota moves on to warmer climates, playing Northern Illinois on Wednesday and Indiana State on Thursday.

Marie Monson is the multimedia editor for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].