Twenty-four hours after the Portland State and University of Northern Colorado softball teams started the Big Sky Conference Tournament opening game, the Vikings and Bears finished at Gloria Rodriguez Field.
Two-time defending conference tournament champion UNC completed a 7-5 win over Portland State after about an hour of play late Wednesday morning to advance in the six-team double-elimination tournament its hosting for the first time.
The Vikings and Bears entered the field for their match around 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday after facing an initial delay due to rainfall. Additional weather-related interruptions occurred as soon as the game started, ultimately leading to the postponement of the full day’s four-game lineup by early Tuesday afternoon.
The UNC team, with a record of 17 wins and 28 losses, is set to face the top-seeded and conference powerhouse Idaho State at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
The match will kick off the tournament for the Bengals, who were unable to play their scheduled game on Tuesday afternoon due to the weather cancellation.
Portland State (12-38) and Northern Colorado picked up their game on Wednesday where they left off, with the score knotted at 4-4 in the top of the fourth inning.
UNC wasted no time bursting onto the scene, putting up three runs in the bottom of the fourth to seize control permanently.
University of Northern Colorado’s Katie Walling takes a lead off first base during a Big Sky Conference Softball Tournament game against Portland State on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at Gloria Rodriguez Field in Greeley. The game was delayed twice Tuesday before all four scheduled games on the first day of the tournament were postponed. UNC defeated the Vikings 7-5 when the game resumed Wednesday, May 7. .(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)
Krista Francia, Sabrina Javorsky and Nya Chacon came up with RBI, and pitcher Anna Wilming was effective in relief for the win.
Wilming, a sophomore transfer from Valparaiso, threw strikes to the Portland State hitters and kept them off guard after coming into the resumed game for Isabelle DiNapoli.
Wilming (7-10) gave up four hits, no earned runs with two strikeouts and a walk. DiNapoli started Tuesday, allowing four runs on seven hits with a strikeout and a walk.
“It was a game-time gut decision,” UNC coach Dedeann Pendleton-Helm said of bringing in Wilming on Wednesday morning. “Something in my gut said we needed to make that switch and it worked out.”
Portland State gave DiNapoli all kinds of trouble early in the game Tuesday. The UNC offense came around to take a lead, helped by a 3-run home run from first baseman Amailee Morales. The Vikings tied the game before the second weather stoppage.
Pendleton-Helm said Wilming pounded the zone with her pitches, meaning Wilming was throwing balls into the strike zone to attack Portland State hitters.
“And she was moving the ball,” the coach added. “And she was really putting it where I asked her to put it, which is always what you love.”
Northern Colorado softball player Anna Wilming was named Big Sky Conference co-pitcher of the week April 28 for the second time this season by the conference. (Jesus Ayala/University of Northern Colorado Athletic Department)
Pendleton-Helm said the UNC players handled the delays Tuesday by playing hangman on a whiteboard during the stoppages.
“Sometimes you have to find silly things to not overthink a game and be able to come back,” the coach said.
Pendleton-Helm said with the game called yesterday, the team talked about attacking Portland State early Wednesday when the game resumed.
This is finals week at UNC leading to graduation ceremonies Friday and Saturday. Pendleton-Helm said most of the Bears players completed finals earlier in the week, or they were able to finish work last week.
“Thank goodness we have professors who will work with us,” Pendleton-Helm said.
The Vikings put two runners on base with one out in the top of seventh. One of those runners reached on a Wilming throwing error. PSU came up with three hits in the inning but managed only one run. Wilming worked out of trouble with a groundout and a flyout.
University of Northern Colorado softball outfielder Abby Gaona makes a tough catch near the wall at Gloria Rodriguez Field during a Big Sky Conference Tournament game against Portland State on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 in Greeley. The game was twice delayed by rain and lightning before it was postponed along with the three other games scheduled on the first day of the tournament. (Jim Rydbom/ Staff Photographer)
Portland State, which lost to UNC in the final a year ago after also losing its opening game, drops again into the losers bracket. The Vikings’ next game is scheduled for Thursday afternoon against the losing team from a later game Wednesday.
“This is not unfamiliar territory for us, but it’s important for us not to look to the end and to look to right now and be present,” PSU coach Meadow McWhorter said. “I’m confident they’re going to stay present and fight.”
McWhorter said the game against UNC over the two days was the first time this season the Vikings were in a “stop and go” situation.
You must play whenever you have the chance, take pauses when needed, and be thankful for every opportunity to play,” the coach emphasized. “It’s important to remember that both teams face identical circumstances, making it an even battlefield.
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