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THIS WEEK: The Portland State softball team (27-23 overall) heads to Eugene, Ore. this week to take part in the Eugene Regional of Women's Softball NCAA Tournament. The Vikings will face host team Oregon on Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. PDT at Howe Field. Portland State will then take on either Mississippi State or BYU on Friday at a time to be determined.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW THE VIKS THIS WEEK: Portland State games at the Eugene Regional  series can be heard live, online at GoViks.com, with Teri Mariani calling the action. Live Video will also be provided through GoDucks.com for all games along with live stats.
 
NCAA TIDBITS: The Vikings are making their fourth appearance in the last seven years and for the second consecutive season. Portland State is 1-6 overall at the NCAA tournament. The Vikings first made their first appearance in the NCAA tournament at the Division I level in 2006 when they were sent to the Corvallis Regional at the No. 3 seed. They fell to No. 3-seeded Baylor 5-3 in their first NCAA game. They picked up their first NCAA tournament victory the next day against No. 4-seeded Nevada, 2-1. Portland State then fell again to Baylor, 3-2, in an elimination game. The Vikings won the inaugural PCSC Championship Series in 2009 to earn their second trip to the NCAA tournament and first under Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. The Vikings made their way to the Palo Alto Regional in 2009 and fell 10-3 to host Stanford and then 5-0 to Cal Poly. The Vikings won their second PCSC Championship in 2011 to earn the conference's automatic bid and were sent to the Seattle Regional hosted by the University of Washington. Host team Washington defeated the Vikings 6-2 in the opening game. The Vikings then fell in an elimination game 2-1 to the Auburn Tigers.
 
PSU-UO SERIES TIDBITS: The game between Portland State and Oregon on Thursday is the 155th meeting all-time between the two teams.  Oregon leads the all-time series 104-49-1. Portland State dropped two games earlier this season at Howe Field in Eugene. Oregon took the first game of the doubleheader earlier this season by a score of 10-4 after capitalizing on a six run fifth inning. Oregon then took the second game by a score of 1-0 after getting one run in the bottom of the first inning.
 
A QUICK LOOK AT OREGON: Oregon comes into regional play as the No. 11-seed with an overall record of 39-15 and a Pacific-12 Conference record of 13-9 to finish third in conference play. Oregon comes into tournament play hitting .312 as a team with Samantha Pappas leading the way with a .407 average. She also leads the team in doubles and triples. Oregon has eight starters who are hitting over .300 on the season. Jessica Moore leads the way for Oregon in the circle with a record of 27-12 on the season in 43 appearances. He posts a 2.43 earned run average after allowing 85 earned runs in 244.2 innings pitched this season. She has struck out 209 while walking 91. Oregon, as a staff, has an ERA of 2.74 while holding opponent hitters to a .243 average.
 
A QUICK LOOK AT BYU: The Cougars have two hitters, JC Clayton and Delaney Willard who are hitting .428 on the season. Willard leads the team in home runs with 18 while driving in 88 runs on the season. She also leads the team with 17 doubles. Stacie Toney is second on the squad in RBIs with 42 while hitting .376. BYU is hitting .322 on the season as a team. Tori Almond and Hannah Howell have shared time in the circle this year with Howell leading the team in innings pitched with 186.2. Almond has the lower ERA at 2.07. Their team ERA is 2.57 while holding opponents to a .249 batting average.
 
A QUICK LOOK AT MISSISSIPPI STATE: The Bulldogs have five players who have started all 55 games this season with another playing in 55 but starting in 54. Brittany Bell leads the squad with a .381 average while Jessica Cooley is hitting .320 with 15 home runs and a team best 41 RBIs. The Bulldogs are hitting .276 as a team while opponents are hitting .224 against a Bulldog pitching staff who boasts a ERA of 2.88. Stephanie Becker leads the team with an 18-10 record and 181.2 innings pitched his season. She has an ERA of 2.49. They have three pitchers who have appeared in at least 20 games this season.
 
PCSC ALL-CONFERENCE: Junior pitcher Anna Bertrand was named the unanimous PCSC Mountain Division Pitcher of the Year as well as a member of the Mountain Division first team. Shortstop Alicia Fine was named PCSC Mountain Division Freshman of the Year as well as being named to the first team. Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk was named the PCSC Mountain Division Coach of the Year for the third straight year, and fourth overall. Karmen Holladay and Jenna Krogh were also named to the Mountain Division first team while Carly McEachran and Crysta Conn were earned honorable mention honors.
 
BACK-TO-BACK: The Vikings are coming off a PCSC Championship weekend in the Bay Area with a two-game sweep of Saint Mary's. The win gave the Vikings back-to-back PCSC Championship Series victories as well as NCAA tournament berths. In the short history of the PCSC Championship Series, the Vikings have made appearances in all three series with wins in 2009, 2011 and again this year. 
 
CAPTAIN CLUTCH: Backup catcher Maggie Sholian has become captain clutch over the past few weeks after coming through with big-time hits as a pinch hitter. Sholian is 4-for-9 (.444) this season as a pinch hitter and came up with a big pinch hit in the first championship game against Saint Mary's when she tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the sixth driving in a runner from second. Her big hit spurred a four-run inning for the Vikings that proved to the game-deciding inning.