PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland State softball team gets its season under way this Thursday in Tempe, Ariz., at the Kajikawa Classic, facing Nebraska at 3 p.m. PT.

For the third straight season, PSU opens its schedule at the Kajikawa, which is one of the nation's toughest and most-respected tournaments. The Vikings will play six games over four days, including facing two top 25 teams, and a third – Nebraska – that received votes in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll.

Thursday's game against the Cornhuskers will have special meaning for Portland State Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk, who was a two-time All-American at third base for Nebraska in the mid-90s. After graduating in 1996 from the Lincoln, Neb., university, Echo-Hawk spent two seasons as a volunteer assistant under Rhonda Revelle, who is entering her 19th year in charge of the program.

On Friday, Portland State takes on 16th-ranked BYU at 8 a.m. PT, then Nevada at 4 p.m. PT. The Vikings face San Jose State at 11 a.m. PT on Saturday, and later play 20th-ranked Stanford at 6 p.m. PT. They close out the tournament by playing Cal State Northridge on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. PT.

All six of the Portland State's games in Tempe will be feature a live internet audio stream through GoViks.com, with Assistant Media Relations Director Ryan Borde calling the action. Each broadcast will start ten minutes prior to first pitch. Live stats will also be available through GoViks.com.

Unlike the past two seasons, the Vikings will not play any games at Arizona State's Farrington Stadium. All six of their games this year will be at the Tempe Sports Complex, located at 8401 South Hardy Dr., 85284.

The Vikings return 11 letterwinners, six starters and their top two pitchers from last year's squad that went 30-27 overall and 18-2 in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Mountain Division. Portland State advanced to the first ever PCSC Championship Series against Saint Mary's, but fell two games to one, to fall one victory short of reaching the NCAA tournament for a second straight season.

Portland State will rely heavily on their pitching duo of sophomore Anna Bertrand and senior Nichole Latham. Bertrand was named the PCSC Mountain Division Pitcher of the Year and co-Freshman of the Year in 2010 after racking up 218 strikeouts, a 16-10 record and a 1.61 ERA. Latham was a first team All-Mountain Division honoree after going 9-7 with a 2.68 ERA, including a 8-0 record in conference action.

The other returning starters are outfielders Brandi Campos (Sr.), Sadie Lopez (So.) and Danielle Lynn (So.), sophomore infielder Carly McEachran, junior catcher/designated player Lacey Holm and senior shortstop Arielle Wiser. Echo-Hawk also believes that junior transfers Karmen Holladay (1B/P) and Jenna Krogh (OF) will make significant contributions this spring.

OPENING AT THE KAJIKAWA, AGAIN: Portland State will open its season at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., for the third straight season. The four-day, 27-team event is hosted by Arizona State at their home field of Farrington Stadium and at the Tempe Sports Complex. In 2009, PSU went 2-2 and last year they were 2-4, which included two losses to teams ranked in the top 15.

A SPECIAL GAME FOR ECHO-HAWK: When the Vikings open the season against Nebraska on Thursday, it will be a special game for PSU Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. The third year coach played for Nebraska from 1993-96, twice earning second team All-America honors and also being named All-Big XII Conference four times. As a third baseman, Echo-Hawk set single-season marks for batting average (.439), doubles (22), runs (66) and assists (170), and career marks for hits (226) and doubles (48). She graduated from Nebraska in 1996 and then spent two seasons as a volunteer assistant for the Cornhuskers. She is still good friends with Nebraska Head Coach Rhonda Revelle, whom Echo-Hawk considers a mentor.

FOLLOW THE VIKINGS ONLINE: All six of PSU's games in Tempe will feature a live audio stream and live stats through GoViks.com. PSU may have several other preseason road games that will have live stats available, but none of their games from Feb. 18-March 13 will be broadcast (unless their opponent does radio). All seven home dates will have live audio and live stats, with Teri Mariani calling the action. PSU's games at Oregon State on March 21, at Seattle on April 22 and 23, at Northern Colorado on April 31 and May 1, and at Colorado State on May 2 will all feature live audio through GoViks.com.

PSU–NEBRASKA SERIES NOTES: Thursday's game will mark the third ever meeting between Portland State and Nebraska, with the series even at 1-1. Both previous contests came in 2007 at the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic in Honolulu. 15th-ranked Nebraska won the first game, 1-0, while the Vikings took the second, 2-0.

PSU–BYU SERIES NOTES: Portland State and BYU have met up four times, with the Cougars holding a 3-1 lead. They met up three times in 2005, first at the UNLV Invitational where BYU claimed a 13-0, five-inning victory. They then played twice in Portland, with the Vikings taking game, 3-1, before losing the second game, 10-0. The only other meeting came in 2001 at the San Diego Tournament, a 7-2 BYU victory.

PSU–NEVADA SERIES NOTES: PSU owns a 19-13-1 advantage in the series with Nevada. These two last played in 2009 at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas, where the 18th-ranked Wolf Pack earned a 11-2 win in six innings. Nevada also took two games from PSU at the 2008 Husky Softball Classic in Seattle and has won three straight in the series. Prior to that, the Vikings were on a five-game winning streak, including a 2-1 victory in the 2006 NCAA Corvallis Regional.

PSU-SAN JOSE STATE SERIES NOTES: The Vikings hold a 12-6 lead in the series with San Jose State, but these two squads have not met up since 2002 when PSU was in its last year as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. Portland State has won the past three games and eight of the last nine overall.

PSU-STANFORD SERIES NOTES: The all-time series between PSU and Stanford is even at 7-7 after the Cardinal earned a 10-3 victory in the 2009 NCAA tournament on Stanford's home field. The Cardinal were ranked fifth in the country in that game and were the No. 8 seed in the tourney. PSU is 1-7 against Stanford since jumping up to DI competition, with their lone victory coming in Palo Alto in 2007. In that game, PSU blanked the 13th-ranked Cardinal, 3-0.

PSU-CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE SERIES NOTES: Cal State Northridge won the first seven meetings between the two schools until the Vikings took both games last year at the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament hosted by UCLA. The Viks took the first game, 7-1, on Feb. 19, and then defeated the Matadors two days later, 12-6. PSU collected nine hits in the first contest and 14 in the second. Cal State Northridge took two games from PSU in 2008, but before that the Vikings and Matadors did not play each from 1991-2007.

EXPECT AN INSTANT IMPACT: The Vikings welcome in two transfers this season that should have instant impacts. Junior centerfielder Jenna Krogh came to PSU after playing two seasons at Colorado State, where she hit a combined .346 and stole 23 bases. She will bat leadoff and will give Echo-Hawk her first true leadoff hitter in three seasons. Krogh's speed will also allow Echo-Hawk to be aggressive on the base paths, something she has tried to do in each of her first two seasons as the head coach. The other transfer that PSU is counting on big things from is junior first baseman/pitcher Karmen Holladay, who played for two years at Oregon State. Holladay didn't see much action for the Beavers, but the was the state's top pitcher as a senior at Corvallis High School in 2007. She also has a potent bat and is expected to hit cleanup for the Vikings.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS: Portland State was the unanimous pick to win the PCSC Mountain Division when the coaches poll was released on Jan. 31. The Vikings received 72 points and all 12 first-place votes and also earned four votes to win the PCSC Championship Series and advance to the NCAA tournament. Loyola Marymount (4), Saint Mary's (3) and Sacramento State (1) of the Coastal Division garnered the other votes to win the series. Following PSU in the Mountain Division poll was Northern Colorado (49), Utah Valley (48), Seattle (44), Idaho State (26) and Weber State (13). PSU was also the favorite to win their division last year and they did that by streamrolling to a 18-2 league record.

SEEKING ANOTHER TRIP TO THE TOURNEY: The Vikings enter the 2011 season looking to make their third trip to the NCAA tournament in the past six seasons. PSU advanced to the national tourney in 2006 and 2009, and then fell one victory shy of going last season.

SUCCESS STARTS AT THE TOP: Portland State's softball team has experienced great success in two seasons under Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. The Vikings have a 59-53 overall mark and 33-7 conference record under Echo-Hawk, who was an assistant with the program for two seasons before being promoted to the top spot on Sept. 12, 2008. Echo-Hawk was the 2009 PCSC Coach of the Year after leading the Vikings to the conference title and a trip to the NCAA tournament. In 2010, she was voted as the PCSC Mountain Division Coach of the Year after guiding PSU to a 18-2 league mark. The 18 league wins set a school record and also matched the 2007 Loyola Marymount team for the most wins in PCSC history.

SUPER SENIOR: Vikings senior Arielle Wiser has played in all 170 games during her career, starting 169 of them. All 169 starts have come at shortstop and she has started 157 straight games dating back to her freshman season. Wiser already ranks first all-time at Portland State in sacrifice hits with 34 and also can join the top 10 in five other categories this year. She has 150 hits in her career and needs 17 more to join the top 10. Also, she can join the top 10 in runs (she has 82 runs and needs five more), doubles (she has 18 and needs five more) and at-bats (she has 507 and needs 96 more).

LATHAM LOOKING TO MOVE UP: Senior right-handed pitcher Nichole Latham will look to move up in several career categories in the PSU record book this season. Latham was the 2009 PCSC Pitcher of the Year and earned first team All-Mountain Division honors last season. In the record book she ranks second in saves (4), fifth in strikeouts (310) and strikeout ratio (5.11), sixth in appearances (97) and winning percentage (.554/36-29), ninth in games started (62) and tenth in wins (36) and innings pitched 424.1).

WHAT A FRESHMAN SEASON: Anna Bertrand put together one of the finest freshman campaigns in Portland State softball history, earning PCSC Mountain Division Pitcher of the Year honors and being named the Mountain Division co-Freshman of the Year. She went 16-10 with a 1.61 ERA and 218 Ks. In conference play she was 8-2 with a 0.88 ERA. She already ranks ninth all-time in strikeouts at PSU and her 218 Ks are the second most in a season on the Park Blocks and the sixth most in PCSC history. She threw three one-hitters and had six double-digit strikeout performances, including a season-high 16 against Idaho State on April 24. Additionally, her 9.2 strikeouts per seven innings ratio is the best in a season at PSU.