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THIS WEEK: Portland States heads to Los Angeles and famed Easton Stadium to play six games at the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament hosted by UCLA. The Vikings will take on Cal State Northridge and Cal Poly twice, while facing both UC Davis and the host Bruins once.
AT: Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament
LOCATION: Los Angeles, Calif. (Easton Stadium)
DATES: Feb. 17-19
Friday, Feb. 19
11:00 a.m. Game No. 7 - Portland State (2-4) vs. Cal State Northridge (1-5)
1:30 p.m. Game No. 8 - Portland State (2-4) vs. Cal Poly (0-0)
Saturday, Feb. 20
11:00 a.m. Game No. 9 - Portland State (2-4) vs. UC Davis (5-2)
1:30 pm. Game No. 10 - Portland State (2-4) vs. Cal Poly (0-0)
Sunday, Feb. 21
10:00 a.m. Game No. 11 - Portland State (2-4) vs. Cal State Northridge (1-5)
12:30 p.m. Game No. 12 - Portland State (2-4) at No. 7 UCLA (3-1)
* For series information on these opponents, go to pages 10-11 of the PDF
COVERAGE
Gametracker: UCLABruins.com
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK: The Vikings opened up the 2010 season at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona for the second straight year. PSU went 2-4 this time around and started the year off with a 2-0 victory over Ohio. After dropping three straight to North Dakota State, No. 5 Arizona State and Ole Miss, the Viks got back on track with a 3-2 victory over Purdue. They closed out the four-day tourney by losing to No. 12 California.
GAMETRACKER AVAILABLE THIS WEEK: All six games this weekend will feature live stats through Gametracker on UCLA's website: UCLABruins.com.
THEIR FIRST TRIP TO EASTON: The Vikings will be making their first ever appearance at Easton Stadium on the campus of UCLA. While they have played the Bruins four times before, all of those games came at neutral site tournaments. Ranked seventh in the nation, UCLA has won 11 national titles and last won it all in 2004.
ROGERS GARNERS PITCHER OF THE WEEK HONORS: Senior righty Tori Rogers brought home the first PCSC Mountain Division Pitcher of the Week honor for the 2010 season after her performance at the Kajikawa Classic. In 13 2/3 innings and four appearances, Rogers did not allow an earned run and held opponents to a .167 batting average. She tallied 10 Ks and pitched six innings in PSU's 2-0 season-opening victory over Ohio. It is her second career weekly award.
SHE LIKES THE KAJIKAWA: Senior RHP Tori Rogers was one of two Viking pitchers that performed well at the season-opening Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona this past weekend. After not allowing an earned run in 13 2/3 innings this season at the Kajikawa, Rogers has now not allowed an earned run in six appearances and 22 2/3 innings over two seasons at the tournament. Last season, Rogers pitched a five-inning no-hitter as PSU blanked McNeese State 10-0 in their first game of 2009. It was quite the debut for the transfer from New Mexico. She also pitched the Viks to an 8-1 victory over No. 16 DePaul at the tourney.
WHERE ARE THE BATS?: Heading into this season it was known that the Vikings had to replace some big bats in their lineup. They graduated five players that were either first or second team All-PCSC a year ago and three of them hit over .300. After one weekend of play, Portland State's offense has plenty of room for improvement. The Viks had just eight hits through their first three games before tallying eight in their 5-3 loss to Ole Miss. PSU hit .153 in its six games and just one player, Sadie Lopez, hit over .300. The Viks also lost a lot of their power hitters and it showed as they had only one extra-base hit all weekend, a double by Brandi Scoggins.
AS EXPECTED: Freshman pitcher Anna Bertrand came to Portland State with some impressive credentials and she didn't disappoint in her first appearance for the Vikings. In her first career game, Bertrand came on in relief and earned the save against Ohio after pitching one inning and striking out three of the four batters that she faced. She went on to suffer a tough 2-1 loss the next day to North Dakota State, despite allowing just three hits and one earned run. She finished the game with eight Ks and two walks. Bertrand then earned her first collegiate victory against Purdue, pitching a complete-game and scattering six hits. She allowed two earned runs, walked four and struck out six. For the weekend, Bertrand tallied a 1.43 ERA in 14 2/3 innings and led the Vikings pitching staff with 17 strikeouts. Opponents hit just .176 against her.
FINALLY, A SAVE: When Anna Bertrand earned the save against Ohio in the Vikings season-opening 2-0 victory, she became the first PSU pitcher to do so since the 2008 season.
THE OFFENSE COMES FROM UNEXPECTED SOURCES: Freshman utility player Sadie Lopez entered the year battling two other players for the right to start in left field. After six games of play, its safe to say Lopez has earned a starting spot. She led the Vikings in batting at the Kajikawa Classic, hitting .308, and tallied a single in her first collegiate at-bat. She went on to hit 2-for-2 against North Dakota State, and then delivered the big blow in PSU's 3-2 win over Purdue with a two-run single.
ERRORS PROVE COSTLY: The Vikings easily could have been 4-2 at the Kajikawa Classic if not for two errors. An error in the sixth inning against North Dakota State allowed what proved to be the winning run to come across the plate and the Bison held on for a 2-1 victory. Then versus Ole Miss, an error in the second inning opened the door for five unearned runs. A muffed throw would have been the third out of the inning, but instead the Rebels pulled out a 5-3 victory in large part because of the “E.”
BACK-TO-BACK SEASON OPENING W's: When Portland State defeated McNeese State 10-0 in their season-opener on Feb. 6, 2009, it marked the first time since 2001 that the Vikings had won their opening game of the year. The Vikings had lost seven-straight season-openers since knocking off Southern Utah, 2-1, in eight innings to start the 2001 season. They've now made it two straight under Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk after they defeated Ohio, 2-0, to start the 2010 season.
