SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State's Kennedie Bacon and Alexa Ortiz both tossed complete games to lead Sacramento State to a doubleheader sweep of Portland State on Friday afternoon at Shea Stadium. The Hornets won the first game, 5-1, before taking the nightcap, 3-0, and never trailed the entire afternoon.

Playing their final three-game Big Sky Conference series of the season, the Hornets improved to 29-17 overall and 8-6 in conference. The Hornets and Vikings (14-29, 4-10) will conclude the three-game series tomorrow at noon on Senior Day at Shea Stadium.

The Hornets currently sit in a tie for third place with Northern Colorado (8-6). Idaho State and Montana both sit atop the conference with 8-4 records, and will begin their three-game series tomorrow. With just one conference game remaining, the Hornets still have a shot at the No. 2 seed and a first round bye at the Big Sky Tournament (May 4-7 in Pocatello, Idaho). 

The top two seeds receive a first round bye, and Sacramento State would gain the bye if it wins tomorrow, gets a Weber State win over Northern Colorado, and Idaho State wins the series against Montana. The winner of that Idaho State-Montana series will win the Big Sky's regular season title and get the No. 1 seed.

In today's games, both Bacon and Ortiz were lights out. The two combined to limit Portland State to just four hits over 14.0 innings with 11 strikeouts. In fact, Viking batters hit just .087 (4-for-46) with one extra base hit. Both pitchers earned their 10th wins of the season, and ninth complete games.

Ortiz (10-8) tossed a two-hit shutout in the nightcap, facing just five batters over the minimum while throwing 111 pitches. She allowed two hits and one walk with seven strikeouts, and did not allow a runner past second base the entire way. In fact, Ortiz did not allow a runner past first base until a Hornet error in the sixth pushed a runner to second.

Bacon (10-6) also went the distance, and also allowed just two hits (both singles) with a run. She worked around five walks while striking out four. Bacon needed only 98 pitches, and limited the Vikings to a .091 batting average. She retired the final six batters of the game in succession, including a seven-pitch seventh inning.

Offensively, Shannon Garcia had a huge day, going 4-for-6 with two runs, a double, homer and an RBI. She was the only player from either team with multiple hits in both games. Lafulafu Malepeai continued to destroy the Big Sky, combining for three his, two doubles and a pair of RBIs. She is now batting a robust .479 vs. Big Sky opposition with a .537 on-base percentage.

Erin Garcia, Madi Mendoza and Madison Evers-Lyles had two hits during the doubleheader, while Evers-Lyles clubbed her 10th home run of the season. Mendoza had a hit in both games, extending her career-high hitting streak to eight games.

Sacramento State did damage early in both games. In the opener, the Hornets scored once in the first and three times in the second to take a 4-1 lead, and cruised from there. In the nightcap, Sacramento State scored twice in the second and once in the third, and that was all the scoring for the game. Shannon Garcia's fourth home run of the season opened the scoring in the second. Evers-Lyles home run (1st inning) opened the scoring in the Hornets' 5-1 victory in the opener.