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THIS WEEK: The PSU softball team (32-16) hosts Loyola Marymount (32-25) in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Championship Series this weekend. The best-of-three event gets underway on Friday at 3 p.m., with a single game. Saturday's first pitch is slated for 12 p.m., and if a third game is necessary, it will take place 20-30 minutes after the conclusion of game two of the series. The winner earns the league's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

PCSC CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES INFORMATION (BEST-OF-THREE)
vs. Loyola Marymount (32-25, 16-4 PCSC)
Friday, May 13  •  3:00 p.m. PT
Saturday, May 14  •  12:00 p.m. PT (Possible Doubleheader)
Portland, Ore.  •  Erv Lind Stadium

COVERAGE
Live Audio: GoViks.com   
Play-By-Play: Teri Mariani
Live Stats: GoViks.com

PSU-LMU SERIES INFO
Overall: LMU leads 25-16   
In Portland: Tied 9-9   
Streak: LMU 1
Last PSU Win: PSU 10, LMU 2 (6); (May 3, 2009 at LMU)
Last LMU Win: LMU 9, PSU 2; (May 3, 2009 at LMU)

HOW TO FOLLOW THE VIKS THIS WEEK: Every game at the PCSC Championship Series will feature live audio and live stats through GoViks.com. Longtime PSU softball coach Teri Mariani will call the action over the Internet. Links for everything can be found under the LIVE EVENTS tab on GoViks.com.

THE PCSC CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: For the second straight season, the Portland State softball team will play in the PCSC Championship Series. Portland State won the PCSC Mountain Division title for the second consecutive season, finishing 16-4. LMU won the Coastal Division with a 16-4 mark. The PCSC Championship Series will pit the two most successful teams in conference history against each other. Loyola Marymount has won a record three titles, taking home the trophy in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Portland State is the only other PCSC school to win multiple titles, winning in 2006 and 2009. Last season, Saint Mary's defeated Portland State, two games to one, in the inaugural PCSC Championship Series in Moraga, Calif.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Vikings reached the championship series by winning 15 of their final 16 league games after a 1-3 start. PSU lost three of four to Utah Valley at home during the opening weekend of conference play, but bounced back by sweeping four games from both Idaho State and Seattle on the road. They then took three of four at Northern Colorado, before sweeping four more games from Weber State this past weekend. The Lions, meanwhile, entered the final weekend of the regular season needing to take three of four from first-place San Diego, but they did even better, sweeping all four contests from the Toreros to claim their first division title since the PCSC split into two divisions for the 2010 season. Both teams won their respective divisions with a 16-4 record.

ROLLIN' ALONG: After opening PCSC play by losing three of four to Utah Valley, the Vikings have bounced back by winning 19 of their past 20 games overall. PSU won a DI era school record 10 straight games from April 16-26, before losing game one of a doubleheader at Northern Colorado on April 30. Over the past 20 games, the Vikings are hitting a remarkable .374 and have outscored their opponents 142-30. Jenna Krogh is leading the way, hitting .491 over that span, while Carly McEachran is batting .458 and Danielle Lynn is hitting .444. Crysta Conn (.395), Arielle Wiser (.393) and Lacey Holm (.356) have also swung the bat very well. In the circle, Anna Bertrand (9-0, 1.37 ERA), Nichole Latham (8-1, 1.50 ERA) and Karmen Holladay (2-0, 0.00 ERA) have teammed up for a 1.23 ERA and to hold the opposition to just a .177 batting average.

BACK-TO-BACK TITLES: Portland State captured its second straight PCSC Mountain Division title with their sweep of Weber State on Saturday, May 7. With Utah Valley losing twice against Idaho State on Friday, that meant PSU had to win two of four games against the Wildcats. They took care of business on Saturday, winning by identical 8-0 scores. The Vikings have a 34-6 league record over the past two seasons, the best amongst all 12 PCSC schools. PSU won the Mountain Division title with an 18-2 mark last season, then went 16-4 this spring. They also have a conference best 85-34 record since 2006. PSU's opponent this weekend, Loyola Marymount, has the second best record at 75-45.

HOLLADAY, WISER EARN PCSC WEEKLY HONORS (MAY 11): Arielle Wiser and Karmen Holladay have been named co-winners of this week's Pacific Coast Softball Conference Mountain Division Player and Pitcher of the Week awards, respectively. Wiser shared the Mountain Division's Player of the Week honor with Idaho State's Brittany Olsin, while Holladay was co-winner of the Mountain Division Pitcher of the Week award along with Northern Colorado's Jamie Juelfs. Wiser and Holladay helped the Vikings go 5-0 this past week, including sweeping a four-game series from Weber State, May 7-8, that clinched the Mountain Division title for Portland State. A senior shortstop from Battle Ground, Wash., Wiser hit .583 (7-for-12) with six runs scored, one double, one home run and six runs batted in over the five contests. In the circle, Holladay went 1-0 with a 0.00 over nine innings and two appearances last week. She struck out six and walked one and held opponents to a .167 batting average. A junior righty from Corvallis, Ore., Holladay shut down her former team, Oregon State, on Tuesday by pitching a complete-game three-hitter in the Vikings' 1-0 victory. Holladay struck out three and walked one in improving to 2-0 on the season. A transfer from OSU, Holladay also worked two innings of scoreless relief on Sunday against Weber State. On the season, Holladay has yet to give up a run in 18 innings and has held opponents to a .180 batting average.

HOLLADAY'S REDEMPTION DAY: Junior transfer Karmen Holladay shut down her former team, Oregon State, on Tuesday, pitching the Vikings to a 1-0 victory over the Beavers. Holladay redshirted at OSU in 2008 then saw little action over the next two seasons before coming to PSU this fall. The righty held the Beavers to three hits, all of which came over the first three innings, and struck out three in a complete-game effort. Portland State's victory snapped a nine-game losing streak in the series and was the Vikings' first win over OSU since May 6, 2008, when they defeated the Beavers, 1-0, in Portland.

HOMER HAPPY: With 32 home runs this season, the Vikings have already surpassed last season's total of 19. PSU didn't hit its 19th homer of 2010 until May 9, which came in their 54th contest. Carly McEachran hit her team-leading sixth homer this past weekend against Weber State, while Crysta Conn, Karmen Holladay, Lacey Holm and Danielle Lynn each have hit four. The Vikings hit four homers in game two against Weber State on Sunday, their most since hitting four against the Wildcats on April 30, 2010, in Ogden.

PCSC LEADERS: The Vikings head into this weekend leading the PCSC in batting average with a .314 mark. PSU has never finished the season leading the conference in that category. They also lead the league in slugging percentage, triples and sac flies, while ranking second in runs, RBIs and on-base percentage. In conference-only games, they are hitting a league-best .360, which is 50 points higher than the next best team, Northern Colorado. In the circle, the Viks lead the PCSC in earned run average, shutouts, complete games, strikeouts and batting average against, while ranking second in fewest runs allowed. In league games, the Viks also lead all teams in ERA, shutouts and strikeouts.

SHUTTING OUT THE OPPOSITION: PSU's pitching staff has tallied 14 shutouts on the season, a school record at the DI level. It is the highest total since the 1997 squad recorded 17 shutouts and the seventh-best total overall in PSU's record book. The Vikings have won five straight games via the shutout after defeating OSU, 1-0, on Tuesday, the first time that has happened since 1992. Only three other times in school history have the Vikings won at least five games in a row by shutting out their opponent. In 1992 they won five in a row, while in 1991 they had shutout streaks of five games and six games.

MORE ON THE SHUTOUTS: Portland State swept Weber State this past weekend in convincing fashion, winning the four games by a combined scored of 33-0. That marks the first time that the Vikings have not allowed a run in a four-game PCSC series since the conference was formed in 2003.

DRIVING IN THE RUNS: The Vikings have driven in 231 runs as a team this spring, the most in their NCAA DI era and the most since the 1996 team tallied 238. Six players have recorded at least 20 RBIs, the most since seven Vikings had 20+ RBIs during the 1991 season. They also have two players – Lacey Holm (39) and Crysta Conn (30) – with at least 30 RBIs, the second most in school history. The 1996, 2006, 2008 and 2009 squads also had two players reach that mark, while four Vikings went over that total in 1997.