Complete weekly release (PDF)

THIS WEEK: The Portland State softball team (4-6) travels this weekend to Moraga, Calif., to play in the PCSC Crossover Tournament hosted by Saint Mary's. The Vikings will play Santa Clara on Friday at 10:30 a.m., Sac State on Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. both days, and the host Gaels at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

GAME NO. 11
vs. Santa Clara (1-10)
Friday, Feb. 24  •  10:30 a.m.
Moraga, CA  •  Cottrell Field

SERIES INFO
Overall: PSU leads 27-7
Neutral Sites: PSU leads 2-0
Streak: PSU 11

GAME NO. 12
vs. Sacramento State (4-2)
Saturday, Feb. 25  •  2:30 p.m.
Moraga, CA  •  Cottrell Field

SERIES INFO
Overall: Sac State leads 36-16
Neutral Sites: Sac State leads 2-1
Streak: Sac State 1

GAME NO. 13
at Saint Mary's (1-4)
Sunday, Feb. 26  •  12:30 p.m.
Moraga, CA  •  Cottrell Field

SERIES INFO
Overall: PSU leads 31-17
Neutral Sites: PSU leads 14-13
Streak: PSU 1

GAME NO. 14
vs. Sacramento State (4-2)
Sunday, Feb. 26  •  2:30 p.m.
Moraga, CA  •  Cottrell Field

HOW TO FOLLOW THE VIKS THIS WEEK: All four games at the PCSC Crossover Tournament will feature live stats provided by Saint Mary's (smcgaels.com). Links for everything can be found by clicking on the LIVE EVENTS tab on the front of GoViks.com.

LOOKING BACK: Portland State is coming off a weekend in which they went 2-3 at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nev. PSU dropped its first two games to teams that were receiving votes in both polls – BYU and Hawai'i – before going 2-1 the rest of the way. On Saturday, Anna Bertrand took a no-no into the seventh inning in a 2-0 victory over Utah. The Utes got two singles in the frame and managed to load the bases with two outs, but Bertrand escaped the jamb by getting a groundout. Later that day, PSU spotted Texas Tech five runs in the first inning in a 5-1 defeat. They closed out the tourney with an impressive 12-1, five-inning victory over Long Beach State, finishing with eight hits, including a pair of home runs. Bertrand got the “W” after working the first four innings and holding the 49ers to three hits.

TWO FOR TWO ... BERTRAND NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK AGAIN: For the second week in a row, Portland State's Anna Bertrand has been named the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Mountain Division Pitcher of the Week. The junior righty from McMinnville, Ore., went 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas last weekend. Bertrand appeared in all five games, pitching 30 2/3 of the Vikings' 32 innings at the tourney. She struck out 30 and held opponents to a .204 batting average. Over the final three games, in which she worked 17 2/3 innings, Bertrand went 2-0 with a 0.40 ERA and 18 Ks. On Saturday against Utah, Bertrand narrowly missed her second no-hitter of the season, limiting the Utes to just two seventh-inning singles. She walked one and fanned eight Utah hitters. Later that afternoon, she came on in relief in the first inning after Texas Tech had already scored five runs on four hits and immediately got an inning-ending double play. She kept the Red Raiders off the scoreboard the rest of the way while giving up only three hits. In the tournament finale on Sunday against Long Beach State, Bertrand started and pitched the first four innings in a 12-1, five-inning victory. She scattered three hits, walked two and struck out four. For the season, Bertrand is 4-2 with a 2.40 ERA and leads the PCSC in strikeouts (47) and shutouts (2). This is the ninth career weekly honor for Bertrand, which is easily the most of any pitcher in either the Coastal or Mountain Division. She was a four-time winner as a freshman and a three-time winner last spring.

THE OFFENSE COMES ALIVE: The Vikings' offense finally came to life on Sunday against Long Beach State in a 12-1, five-inning victory. The Vikings finished with eight hits, which doesn't sound like a significant total, but among those were a grand slam by Carly McEachran, a two-run home run by Karmen Holladay and a bases-clearing triple by Brittany Hendrickson. The first of those two came against Erin Jones-Wesley, who was the Big West Pitcher of the Year last spring. PSU's 12 runs were as many as they had scored in their previous seven games combined, which was a good sign after they had stranded a total of 30 runners in losses to BYU, Hawai`i and Texas Tech at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic.

FAMILIAR FOES: The Vikings will be facing some familiar foes this weekend in Moraga, even though its been a couple of seasons since they have seen two of them. PSU has played a combined 134 games against Sac State (52), Saint Mary's (48) and Santa Clara (34) as all three were founding members of the PCSC in 2003. But, they haven't faced the Hornets or Broncos since 2009 because of the league expanding and splitting into two divisions for the 2010 season. They have played Saint Mary's in each of the past two years, going 1-2 against them in the 2010 PCSC Championship Series in Moraga, and earning a 3-0 victory at last year's PCSC Crossover Tournament in Sacramento.  

STIFF COMPETITION: In what has become the norm under Tobin Echo-Hawk, the Vikings opened this season with some very stiff competition. Echo-Hawk likes to schedule a tough preseason slate of games and that is no exception this year as two of PSU's first five games, all of which were in Tempe, came against teams that reached the NCAA tourney last spring (San Diego State and Stanford). In Las Vegas, the Vikings took on three more squads that made the postseason last year, including BYU, Long Beach State and Texas Tech. Hawai`i, whom the Vikings played on Friday, didn't make the tourney in 2011, but has made nine appearances since 1994 and reached the Women's College World Series in 2010. Both BYU and Hawai`i were receiving votes in the polls last week, and this week the Rainbow Wahine joined the NFCA top 25 as they are now 12-0.

SHE COULD LEAVE AS THE BEST EVER: In just over two seasons on the Park Blocks, junior Anna Bertrand has established herself as one of the best pitchers ever to don a Viking uniform. She is 36-21 with a 2.17 ERA and 430 Ks over her two-plus years in the circle. This past weekend she passed up ex-teammate Nichole Latham for fifth in Ks while also moving into the tenth slot in appearances with 70. She is also close to joining the top 10 for victories (needs three more), games started (54/needs three more) and shutouts (10/needs four more). Additionally, her 8.04 strikeout ratio is the best ever at PSU and her ERA is the second-best ever during PSU's DI era (1999-present). A two-time first team All-PCSC Mountain Division pitcher, Bertrand won 11-straight decisions down the stretch last year to help the Viks win the division title. Over her career she has tallied eight double-digit strikeout performances, including fanning 16 against Idaho State on April 24, 2010, and against Nevada on Feb. 11, 2011. Finally, her 218 Ks in 2010 are the second highest single season mark in PSU history and the sixth-best in PCSC history.

THE WORKHORSE: Through the first two weeks of the season Anna Bertrand has been nothing short of a workhorse for the Vikings in the circle, throwing 49 2/3 of their 63 innings and appearing in eight of their 10 games. As always, she continues to shine and leads the PCSC in strikeouts (47), strikeouts looking (13) and innings pitched. She also ranks tied for second in wins (4) and third in ERA (2.40) and opposing batting average (.213).

SWINGING A BIG STICK: Senior Karmen Holladay has been swinging a big stick to start the 2012 season, hitting over .300 in both tournaments while leading the team with two doubles, three home runs and six RBIs. She also is second on the team with four multi-hit games and a .345 batting average. In the PCSC she ranks tied for third in homers, seventh in total bases (21) and eighth in slugging (.724).

SWEET SWINGING FRESHMAN: Freshman SS Brittany Hendrickson has opened her Viking career in brilliant fashion, batting a team-best .400 through the first two weekends. She hit .533 (8-for-15) in Las Vegas, tallying two hits in four of five games and in each of the final three. A lefty, Hendrickson has perhaps the sweetest looking swing on the club. She had one of her best games against No. 9/10 Stanford on Feb. 11, going 2-for-3 with a double to left center. She could have easily had another double if not for a nice play in the left center gap by Cardinal centerfielder Sarah Hassman. Against Long Beach State this past Sunday, she racked up four RBIs, including three on her first triple.

BALL MAGNET: In what has become somewhat of a running joke, sophomore Crysta Conn has been referred to as a ball magnet by her teammates and coaches. After getting hit by a pitch six times last year, which was three more than anyone else on the squad, Conn has already been hit three times this season. Her total of nine ranks her tied for fourth all-time in the Vikings' DI era, leaving her just four short of Mandy Hill's record of 13.

TURNING IT AROUND: One year after being named the PCSC Mountain Division co-Player of the Year, Carly McEachran got off to a slow start this spring, batting .214 during the opening weekend in Tempe. But, she had a hit in all five games in Las Vegas, batting .389 (7-for-18), to raise her batting average by almost one-hundred points to .312.

PICKING THE RIGHT TIME: Sophomore C Kayla Norrie picked the right time to get her first hit of 2012 when she doubled in a run in the second inning of a 2-0 victory over Utah on Saturday. Norrie went on to go 2-for-2 the next afternoon against Long Beach State.