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THIS WEEK: The PSU softball team continues its preseason schedule by playing at Oregon State on Tuesday, March 22, and hosting Oregon on Wednesday, March 23. The Viks (12-8) and Beavers are slated for a doubleheader, starting at noon, while PSU and Oregon will also play two games, with first pitch set for 2 p.m.

GAMES 21 & 22
at Oregon State (12-8) 
Tuesday, March 22  •  12 p.m.  •  Corvallis, OR

GAMES 23 & 24
vs. No. 15/16 Oregon (22-4)
Wednesday, March 23  •  2 p.m.  •  Portland, OR

HOW TO FOLLOW THE VIKS THIS WEEK: Tuesday's game at Oregon State will feature live stats (Gametracker) through Oregon State's website, OSUBeavers.com. Wednesday's game versus Oregon will feature live stats and live audio with Teri Mariani calling the action. Links for everything can be found by clicking on the LIVE EVENTS tab on the front of GoViks.com.

FINALLY HOME: After six weeks and 22 games away from home, the Vikings will finally get a chance to play a game at Erv Lind Stadium when they host Oregon this Wednesday for a doubleheader. Portland State has played in the states of Arizona (twice), California, Nevada and Washington during the preseason portion of their schedule. Last year, the Vikings also played their first home game on March 23 against the Ducks.

HOLM EARNS SECOND PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR OF 2011 (MAR. 16): Portland State's Lacey Holm was named the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Mountain Division Player of the Week on March 16 after hitting .500 over two games from March 12-13. A junior from Salem, Holm went 3-for-6 with one double, one home run and four RBIs at the Husky Softball Classic in Seattle. She batted 1-for-3 with a double in PSU's 2-1 loss to USC Upstate on March 12, before going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and four RBIs in the Vikings' 10-2, five-inning win over Seattle later that day. Holm leads the Vikings in almost every offensive category and is batting .442 with three home runs and 20 RBIs. She has already surpassed her 2010 totals of two homers and 19 runs batted in. In the PCSC, Holm ranks first in RBIs, and third in home runs, batting average and slugging percentage. This is the second weekly honor this season for Holm and the third of her career. 

THEIR BEST START IN 14 YEARS: At 12-8, the Vikings are off to their best start since the 1997 team went 15-5 through their first 20 games. In fact, this is just the third time since '97 that PSU has posted a .500 winning percentage or better through 20 games. The 2006 Vikings were 11-9 at this point, while in 2009 they were 10-10.

HEADING TO CORVALLIS: Tuesday's game at Oregon State will mark the 10th straight year the Vikings have traveled down to Corvallis to play the Beavers. The last time these two didn't meet up at the OSU Softball Complex was 2000, when they played just two games in Portland.

PSU-OREGON STATE SERIES NOTES: Oregon State has won seven straight over the Vikings and leads the all-time series, 81-33-1 ... in Corvallis, OSU leads 44-18, and has won the past 11 ... PSU's last win in Corvallis was on April 18, 2006 ... last season, the Beavers swept a doubleheader in Corvallis on March 28, before rallying for a 2-1 victory in Portland on April 21. The Vikings led 1-0 going into the final frame, but a two-run single by Ashley Sanchez proved to be the difference ... Portland State's last victory against Oregon State came on May 6, 2008, in the final game of the season for both schools. The Vikings posted a 1-0 shutout in the game ... last year, Carly McEachran was the lone Viking to hit over .300 against OSU, going 2-for-6 (.333).

PSU-OREGON SERIES NOTES: Oregon took three of four games from the Vikings last year and now leads the all-time series, 100-49-1 ... in Portland, Oregon leads the series, 33-28, and has won six straight ... PSU's last win at home over Oregon came on May 3, 2006, when they swept the Ducks in a doubleheader ... Oregon took the first three games last season, before PSU knocked off the 19th-ranked Ducks, 4-1, in the second game of a doubleheader in Eugene on May 5. On March 23, the 25th-ranked Ducks swept the Vikings by scores of 3-2 and 2-0 at Erv Lind. In the first game on May 5, Oregon claimed a 5-4 victory ... in the 4-1 victory, Arielle Wiser went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs, while Kendra Suhr earned her second career win after starting and pitching four scoreless innings ... in the four games last year, Wiser led the Vikings at the plate, batting .462 (6-for-13) with three RBIs. Brandi Campos hit .333 (5-for-15), and Anna Bertrand went 0-1 with a 1.40 ERA and 12 Ks over 10 innings and two appearances ...  in 12 career games against the Ducks, Wiser has hit .361 (13-for-36), and in 10 career games vs. UO, Campos has hit .286 (8-for-28).

PSU AND RANKED TEAMS: For the eighth straight season, Portland State defeated a ranked team when they rallied for a 4-3 victory in eight innings over No. 16/20 BYU on Feb. 11. The Vikings have now knocked off at least one ranked team every season from 2004 on. Since they moved to a full-time DI schedule in 1999, the Vikings have defeated a ranked foe every year except 2003. The most wins PSU has against ranked opponents in a season is two, set in 2001 and 2007. This year, PSU is 1-4 against ranked foes.

HOMER HAPPY: With 11 home runs already this season, the Vikings are on pace to break last season's total of 19. PSU didn't hit its 11th homer of 2010 until April 25, which came in their 43rd contest. Lacey Holm leads the team with three, Sadie Lopez and Carly McEachran each have two bombs, while Crysta Conn, Karmen Holladay, Danielle Lynn and Arielle Wiser each have hit one.

LOTS OF TRIPLES: The Vikings have also been racking up triples early in 2011, with eight already. Jenna Krogh and Carly McEachran have both hit three, which leads the PCSC, while Lacey Holm and Alexa Morales each have one. Last year, the Vikings didn't record their first triple until their 19th game and didn't tally their eighth triple until game number 46 at Weber State.

HITTING STREAKS: Junior Jenna Krogh has a team-best six-game hitting streak going entering this week, while Lacey Holm has hit safely in four straight games. Krogh is batting .429 (9-for-21) over her streak and Holm is hitting .500 (7-for-14) during hers. Krogh has the team's longest streak of the year, hitting safely in 10-straight games from Feb. 12-27.

IMPROVED OFFENSIVE NUMBERS: Heading into the 2011 season, Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk wasn't sure where the offense would come from. The Vikings lost three of the top four hitters from a year ago and welcomed in several new faces this spring. But so far, the Vikings have greatly surpassed the numbers they put up through the first 20 games of 2010. PSU is hitting .280, compared to .234 through the first 20 games of play a year ago, and has tallied 90 runs, 80 RBIs and 11 home runs. Last year at this time they had scored 58 runs, driven in 50 and hit only one homer. The slugging and on-base percentage numbers are significantly improved as well, as PSU is slugging .411 and has an on-base percentage of .339, compared to a .288 slugging percentage and .302 on-base percentage last spring. Last year, PSU had just two players hitting over .300 through the first 20 games, while this year there are four over that mark. All of it adds up to an 12-8 record, compared to last year's 7-13 mark.

THE PITCHING IS BETTER TOO: Just like the offense, the Vikings' pitching has been better through the first 20 games of the season compared to last year. Anna Bertrand and Nichole Latham have a combined 2.51 ERA and have held opponents to a .234 batting average, while last year through the first 20 games the Vikings' pitching staff had a 4.42 ERA and opponents were hitting .267.

RACKING UP THE HITS: Seven times over the past 12 games the Vikings have recorded at least 10 hits in a game. They've also done it in three of their past four and four of their last six. Over their first eight games of 2011 they did it just once. In the past 12 games, the Vikings are batting .302 and have gone 8-4.