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THIS WEEK: The Portland State softball team opens up its 2012 season by playing five games in Tempe, Ariz., at the Kajikawa Classic. The Vikings' first game of the year is on Friday when they take on San Diego State at 8 a.m. They also face Cal Poly that day at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Viks open against No. 9/10 Stanford at 7:30 a.m., then take on McNeese State at 1 p.m. PSU closes out the tourney by playing Utah at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. All game times listed are Pacific.

GAME NO. 1
vs. San Diego State
Friday, Feb. 10  •  8 a.m. PT/9 a.m. MT
Tempe, AZ  •  Tempe Sports Complex

GAME NO. 2
vs. Cal Poly
Friday, Feb. 10  •  3:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. MT
Tempe, AZ  •  Tempe Sports Complex

GAME NO. 3
vs. No. 9/10 Stanford
Saturday, Feb. 11  •  7:30 a.m. PT/8:30 a.m. MT
Tempe, AZ  •  Tempe Sports Complex

GAME NO. 4
vs. McNeese State
Saturday, Feb. 11  •  1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT
Tempe, AZ  •  Tempe Sports Complex

GAME NO. 5
vs. Utah
Sunday, Feb. 12  •  12:30 p.m. PT/1:30 p.m. MT
Tempe, AZ  •  Tempe Sports Complex

HOW TO FOLLOW THE VIKS THIS WEEK: All five games at the Kajikawa Classic will feature a live audio broadcast and live stats through GoViks.com. Assistant Media Relations Director Ryan Borde will bring the action to you, with the pregame show set to being 10 minutes before first pitch. Links for everything can be found by clicking on the LIVE EVENTS tab on the front of GoViks.com.

KAJIKAWA CLASSIC INFO: The four-day Kajikawa Classic, which is hosted by Arizona State, is one of the nation's most prestigious preseason tournaments. With 75 games and 28 teams, it is also one of the largest. All five of the Vikings' games will be played at the Tempe Sports Complex, which is located at 8401 South Hardy Dr, Tempe, AZ, 85284. An all-session pass costs $40, while single-day passes cost $10 on Thursday and Sunday, and $15 on Friday and Saturday. This will be the fourth straight year that Portland State has opened its season at “The Kaj.” They are 7-9 overall, going 2-2 in 2009, 2-4 in 2010 and 3-3 last year.

PSU'S SEASON-OPENER HISTORY: Portland State is 2-1 in season-openers under fourth-year Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. The Vikings defeated McNeese State, 10-0 in five innings, to open their '09 campaign, then defeated Ohio, 2-0, to start the 2010 season. Last year, PSU was dealt a 11-2, five-inning defeat by Nebraska. Since they jumped up to the DI level in 1999, the Vikings are 4-9 in openers.

VIKINGS PICKED TO WIN PCSC MOUNTAIN DIVISION TITLE AGAIN: Portland State has been picked to win its third straight Pacific Coast Softball Conference Mountain Division title, as selected by the league's 12 head coaches. PSU finished just behind reigning Coastal Division champion Loyola Marymount in the voting for who would be the overall champion. The Lions received nine of 12 first-place votes to win their division and garnered five votes to win the overall PCSC Championship, which is decided in a best-of-three series at the conclusion of the regular season. The Vikings brought home eight first-place votes in the Mountain Division, registering 67 points, and three votes to win the PCSC Championship Series. Also in the Mountain Division, Northern Colorado tallied the other four first-place votes and received 53 points in being tabbed second. Utah Valley was picked for third, followed by Idaho State, Seattle and Weber State. In the Coastal Division, San Diego received two first-place votes and 56 points to finish second and was followed by Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, Cal State Bakersfield and Santa Clara. Saint Mary's received one first-place vote. Last season, Portland State won the Mountain Division before sweeping LMU, two-games-to-one, to advance to the NCAA tournament for the third time in school history. The PCSC expanded from six to 12 teams and split into two divisions for the 2010 season. Since that time, Portland State has won both Mountain Division crowns and played in the PCSC Championship Series both seasons.

ABOUT THE 2012 VIKINGS: Coming off their third PCSC championship and third NCAA tourney appearance, the Vikings head into 2012 with 10 returning letterwinners and six returning starters. Among the most notable returners are junior right-handed pitcher Anna Bertrand, senior center fielder Jenna Krogh, junior infielder Carly McEachran and senior first baseman/right-handed pitcher Karmen Holladay. Other returning starters are sophomore infielder Crysta Conn, junior outfielder Sadie Lopez and sophomore outfielder Becca Bliss. Bertrand will once again lead the way in the circle, with Holladay expected to see considerable more innings this year and freshman Raya Johnson adding to the mix. Holladay will most likely start at first base when not pitching, and junior Alexa Morales could see time at first as well. McEachran will start at second base for the second straight year, while Conn will most certainly start at third base. A pair of freshmen are battling for the starting shortstop job. Alicia Fine is the better fielder of the two, but Brittany Hendrickson brings a very potent bat to the Park Blocks. Hendrickson, along with Morales, could see action as the DP. In the outfield, Krogh should start again in center, with Lopez and freshman Aubrey Nitschelm competing for the starting left fielders job. In right field, Bliss and junior transfer Jordan Goschie are competing to see who will start. A wildcard in the outfield is junior transfer Danai Martin, who Echo-Hawk says is the best base runner she has ever coached. Behind the dish, sophomore Kayla Norrie and senior Maggie Sholian are neck-and-neck for the starting job.

RISING TO THE TOP OF THE PCSC: Portland State won its third PCSC title last spring and is now tied with Loyola Marymount for the most conference championships in the nine-year history of the league. PSU also won the title in 2006 and 2009 to advance to the NCAA tournament. Since 2006, Portland State has a conference best 85-34 record in league games. PSU's opponent in the PCSC Championship Series, Loyola Marymount, has the second best record at 75-45. Overall, LMU has tallied 192 wins since 2006, while PSU has registered 185.

VIKS WIN 2011 PCSC CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: PSU is the only team to play in both of the PCSC Championship Series, which started in 2010 after the conference expanded to 12 teams and split into two divisions. In 2010, the Viks won the opener at Saint Mary's, before getting swept the next day. Portland State captured the 2011 PCSC Championship Series after sweeping Loyola Marymount at Erv Lind Stadium. Viks outfielder Jenna Krogh was named the Series Most Outstanding Player and Anna Bertrand was tabbed as the Series Most Outstanding Pitcher. Krogh hit 5-for-9 (.556) with a double, triple and three RBIs, while Bertrand went 2-0 with a 0.70 ERA and held LMU to a .194 batting average. Bertrand went the distance in the second game after pitching three innings of relief in the series opener.

BACK-TO-BACK MOUNTAIN DIVISION TITLES: Portland State captured its second straight PCSC Mountain Division title last year. 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 in 2010, then went 16-4 in 2011.

TOPPING THE 30-WIN PLATEAU: After finishing the 2011 season at 34-18, Portland State has now reached the 30-win plateau in back-to-back seasons and for the fourth time in the past six years. The Vikings went 30-27 in 2010 after finishing 29-26 in 2009 in what was Tobin Echo-Hawk's first season as head coach. PSU's 34 victories were their second most in their NCAA DI era, trailing only the 2006 team, which finished 38-20.

SUCCESS STARTS AT THE TOP: Portland State's softball team has experienced great success under Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. Over the past three seasons the Vikings have a 93-71 overall mark and 49-11 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. Echo-Hawk was voted the Mountain Division tri-Coach of the Year in 2011 after guiding the Viks to another divisional championship, the PCSC Championship Series title and another trip to the NCAA tourney.

SHE COULD LEAVE AS THE BEST EVER: In just 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 32-19 with a 2.13 ERA and 383 Ks over her two years in the circle. She already ranks sixth all-time in strikeouts and first in strikeout ratio (8.26). Her 2.13 ERA is the second-best ever during PSU's DI era (1999-present), while her .627 winning percentage and .200 opponent batting average are the top marks. 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.

SETTING THE TONE: For the first time in her three seasons as the head coach at PSU, Tobin Echo-Hawk had a prototypical leadoff hitter in 2011 in transfer Jenna Krogh. The speedy left spent her first two seasons at Colorado State, batting .346 and stealing 23 bases. But she upped her game on the Park Blocks, recording a PCSC-best .398 batting average, which was the highest mark by a Viking since 1991. She also led the league with seven triples, while ranking second in runs (39) and tied for second in hits (66). She led the Vikings with 22 multi-hit performances and by tallying at least one hit in 41 of 52 games. Krogh also led-off a game with a hit 16 times.

INSTANT IMPACT: The Vikings received immediate help last year from four new players, three of which were freshmen. The most notable impact players were freshman 3B Crysta Conn and junior transfer Karmen Holladay. Conn concluded the year with a .290 batting average, four HRs and 31 RBIs, and was one of just three players to start all 52 games, while Holladay hit .238 with four homers and 26 RBIs. Holladay also helped in the circle despite battling a back injury for much of the year. The righty didn't allow a single run over 18 innings and six apperances, and held opponents to a .180 batting average. She also threw a complete-game shutout on May 10 against her former team, Oregon State. The other two players that provided help immediately were freshmen Becca Bliss and Kayla Norrie. Bliss started 30 games in the outfield and batted .243, while Norrie played in 25 games and hit .275. She had several memorable pinch-hit moments, including belting a home run against Utah Valley on April 10.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: After taking a look at the offensive numbers that infielder Carly McEachran produced as a freshman in 2010, not many people would have guessed that she would have went on to become the 2011 Mountain Division Player of the Year. McEachran had an up-and-down first year, starting 55 games and batting .200 with no home runs and seven RBIs. But as a sophomore, she broke out to hit .333 with six homers and 30 runs batted in. She also upped her slugging percentage from .264 to .567, and her on-base percentage from .248 to .372. In league action, McEachran led all PSU players with a .475 batting average, a .831 slugging percentage, a .500 on-base percentage, four HRs and 19 RBIs.