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FIRST PITCH
THIS WEEK: The Vikings open Big Sky Conference play this weekend when they host the Southern Utah Thunderbirds for a three-game set at Erv Lind Stadium. The Vikings and Thunderbirds will square off on Friday, March 22 for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. The series finale is slated for Saturday at 12 p.m. Friday's first game will be the long awaited home opener for the Vikings as they have played their first 27 games away from home.
FOLLOW ONLINE: Live Stats will be available for all three games against the Thunderbirds. Links are available on the PSU softball schedule page at GoViks.com. For the first time in program history, all Portland State softball home games will stream live online at BigSkyTV.org. Former Vikings' Head Coach Teri Mariani will provide the play-by-play. A free account is required.
LAST WEEKEND: The Vikings went 1-3 last weekend at the SpringHill Suites Invitational in Boise, Idaho. The Vikings dropped its invitational opener 6-5 in eight innings to Utah State after leading 5-0 going into the bottom of the seventh. They then fell to host Boise State 2-1. Portland State came back with a 7-0 win over Utah State with three-RBI performances from both
Candice Orozco and
Alicia Fine. PSU fell in the invitational finale to Boise State 6-2. Portland State hit .274 over the four games with 12 doubles. The PSU pitching staff had a 2.10 ERA led by senior
Anna Bertrand's 0.51 ERA. Bertrand allowed just one earned run in 13 2/3 innings pitched.
SOUTHERN UTAH: The Thunderbirds come into play this week with a 6-18 overall record. They are 0-4 on the road this season. Southern Utah is hitting .215 as a team this season led by Mikkel Griffin who is hitting .312 (24-for-77). Griffin has a team-high 10 runs scored, five doubles, and a team high four home runs. The Thunderbirds have hit 12 home runs as a team and allowed just four. Southern Utah is 7-for-8 in stolen base attempts this season while opponents are 46-for-50.
The Southern Utah pitching staff has a 5.76 team ERA after allowing 98 earned runs in 153 innings. Danielle Axe has a team best 4.70 ERA in 51 2/3 innings pitched. Ariel Zimmerman has thrown the most innings for the T-Birds, 82 2/3 innings, while posting a 3-10 record and a 6.21 ERA in 13 starts. Opponents are hitting .317 against SUU.
COMING UP: Following the three-game set with Southern Utah this weekend, the Vikings will head to Ogden, Utah to continue conference play with three games at Weber State. The series starts with a doubleheader Friday, March 29 and finishes with a single game on Saturday, March 30.
NEWS AND NOTES
CONFERENCE OPENERS: Portland State is 8-2 in its last 10 conference opener games. The Vikings are 3-1 in four openers under Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. The Vikings two losses came in 2011 against Utah Valley and in 2005 at Loyola Marymount. PSU started conference play last season with a 7-0 win at Utah Valley.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: Portland State has embraced its home field advantage at Erv Lind Stadium under Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. The Vikings are 41-19 (.683) overall at Erv Lind and 34-6 (.850) in conference play under Echo-Hawk. PSU went 10-2 in conference play in 2012 and a perfect 12-0 in 2010. The Vikings have 13 scheduled games at home this season including nine conference games.
BERTRAND PICKING IT UP: After a somewhat sluggish start to the season, senior pitcher
Anna Bertrand has found her rhythm as of late. She went 1-2 at the SpringHill Suites Invitational with a 0.51 ERA. She has given up just one earned run in her last three appearances with opponents hitting just .146. Her last two wins have come as complete game shutouts against East Carolina (3/8) and Utah State (3/17). She allowed just two hits in each of the shutouts.
HENDRICKSON'S HEATING UP: SO 1B/DP
Brittany Hendrickson has really come alive at the plate over the past few weeks posting a pair of five-RBI games. She first went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a three-run home run against UC Riverside (3/2) while driving in five. She then posted another five-RBI game going 2-for-3 with a two-run single and a three-run double against East Carolina (3/8). Before Hendrickson, the last Viking to drive in five RBIs was
Alicia Fine at Northern Colorado last spring.
MORE HENDRICKSON: Over the last 10 games,
Brittany Hendrickson has hit .440 (11-for-25) with four runs scored, five doubles, a home run, and 13 RBIs. She has a slugging percentage of .760 and an on-base percentage of .516. She has been clutch for the Vikings, hitting .545 with runners in scoring position, and has seven two-out RBIs over the span.
CONSISTENT CONN: JR 3B
Crysta Conn extended her hitting streak to eight games before having it snapped at No. 21 Hawai'i on March 9. She hit .429 (9-for-21) with three runs scored and a RBI over the stretch. Conn's eight-game hitting streak was the best so far this season for the Vikings and tied the team best from 2012 set by
Jenna Krogh. Conn now leads the team in hitting with a .304 average.
SCHEDULING TOUGH: Portland State has by far the toughest schedule in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings have already played 10 games against ranked opponents including five straight against top 10 teams. The Vikings have played a ranked opponent in each of the first five weeks of the season. They played No. 20 Stanford at the Kajikawa Classic, No. 8 California at the Easton Desert Classic, No. 3 Arizona State for a four-game set, No. 17 Arizona at the Wildcat Invitational, and No. 21 Hawai'i last weekend at the 2013 Pepsi Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament.
VIKINGS AND THE RANKED: Portland State has played 10 games against ranked opponents this season including five against top 10 teams. The rest of the Big Sky combined has played eight games versus ranked opponents. North Dakota has played the most with three while Sacramento State and Weber State have yet to play a ranked opponent. Portland State has four more games on its schedule against currently ranked teams.
FINDING THE LONG BALL: The Vikings have hit 19 long balls through their first 23 games this season. That puts them on a pace for 42 home runs on the season after hitting just 27 in 2012.The school record for team home runs in a season is 49 set by the 2006 squad.
TRIFECTA: Coming into the 2013 season, the Vikings had not hit three home runs in a single contest since an 11-0 win over Weber State during the 2011 season. Through the first 20 games this season, Portland State has hit three home runs in a game three times. The Vikings first blasted a trio of long balls in a 5-3 win over BYU on Feb. 16. They hit three home runs in a game again on Feb. 22 off Dallas Escobedo in a 6-5 loss in 12 innings at No. 3 Arizona State. The most recent offensive explosion came in an 11-3 rout of UC Riverside on March 2. The one common denominator is senior
Alexa Morales. Morales has hit a home run in each of the three games in which the Vikings have hit three as a team.
ONE FINE WEEK: Sophomore shortstop
Alicia Fine led the Vikings hitting .417 (5-for-12) at the Easton Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. Her five hits led the team as did her two doubles. She also blasted her first home run of the season in a 5-3 win over BYU. She drove in three runners on the weekend and dropped down a pair of sacrifice bunts. She had a .833 slugging percentage and a .417 on-base percentage on the weekend. She entered the tournament hitting .188 and raised her average nearly 100 points to .286. She started the tournament going 2-for-3 with a run scored while driving in the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth in a 3-2 win over Cal State Fullerton. She then hit her first home run of the season to give the Vikings a lead against BYU. In the final game of the weekend she hit a pair of doubles off No. 8 California while driving in a run.
STARTING WITH A BANG: Senior
Carly McEachran started the season the way no Viking ever has. McEachran hit a home run over the left field fence on the first pitch she saw leading off for the Vikings in the bottom of the first against San Jose State. McEachran hit two more home runs against Boise State and added another against No. 20 Stanford. She hit home runs for her first three hits of 2013. Her four long balls on the opening weekend matched her total from all of 2012.
COMING UP CLUTCH: Freshman
Candice Orozco hit a ground-rule double over the center field fence driving in a pair of runs against Kentucky. What makes the hit even better is the fact that it was Orozco's first career hit as a Viking.
TOURNAMENT RECAPS
ALOHA TOURNAMENT: The Vikings went 1-2 at the 2013 Pepsi Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii. They started the tournament with a 9-0 win over East Carolina in five innings.
Brittany Hendrickson drive in five runs with a two-run single and a three-run double leading the Vikings to the win.
Anna Bertrand threw her first complete game shutout of the season against the Pirates picking up her third win of the season. Portland State then dropped a pair of games to No. 21 Hawai'i by scores of 7-0 and 8-3 respectively. The final day of the tournament was cancelled due to inclement weather.
WILDCAT INVITATIONAL: The Vikings are coming off a 1-4 weekend last week at the 2013 Wildcat Invitational hosted by the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. Portland State dropped the first day's doubleheader to UC Riverside and Boston University by scores of 1-0 and 8-3 respectively. The Vikings then broke out the bats for an 11-3 win over UC Riverside on Saturday before dropping the second half of the day's doubleheader to No. 17 Arizona by a score of 12-3.
Brittany Hendrickson had a breakout game in Saturday's win over UC Riverside going 2-for-2 with a run scored and a three-run home run. She drove in five RBIs in the game. Portland State then dropped the final game of the Invitational to Arizona by a score of 8-1.
ARIZONA STATE: The Vikings dropped a four-game series with No. 3 Arizona State Feb. 22-24 in Tempe, Ariz. The series could easily have gone to a 2-2 spit as the Vikings lost two games by a combined two runs. PSU dropped the series opener 6-5 in a 12-inning marathon. The Vikings led twice in the game including in the ninth but ASU came back to tie it and then won it in the 12th. ASU took the next two games in five innings by scores of 19-2 and 9-0 respectively. The Vikings held a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh in the series finale but could not get the final three outs to secure the win as Arizona State plated three runs to win it 4-3.
EASON DESERT CLASSIC: The Vikings went 2-3 at the Easton Desert Classic hosted by UNLV in Henderson and Las Vegas, Nev. PSU opened the weekend up with a 3-2 win over Cal State Fullerton thanks to an
Alicia Fine game-winning single in the bottom of the sixth. After the Vikings lost to UNLV, they defeated the BYU Cougars, 5-3, behind a trio of home runs. PSU then closed out the weekend with losses to Nevada and then-No. 8 California. Fine hit .417 (5-for-12) with a home run to lead the Vikings on the weekend.
KAJIKAWA CLASSIC: The Vikings opened the 2013 season by going 2-4 at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. The Vikings dropped their season opener to San Jose State 12-2. Senior
Carly McEachran started the season hitting a home run on the first pitch she saw leading off for the Vikings in the bottom of the first against the Spartans. She then hit a pair of home runs in a 2-1 win over Boise State for the Vikings first win of the season. The Vikings lost to No. 20 Stanford 3-1 before dropping a game to Bradley. PSU added a 5-3 win over Kentucky before dropping the final game of the Classic to Indiana. McEachran blasted four home runs on the opening weekend after hitting four all of last year.
SEASON NOTES
MOVING TO THE BIG SKY: After spending the last 10 seasons in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference, Portland State softball makes the move to the Big Sky Conference this season, as the conference will sponsor the sport for the first time. Portland State along with Idaho State, North Dakota, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, and Weber State will make up the conference.
BIG SKY TOURNAMENT: The move to the Big Sky Conference brings the inaugural Big Sky Softball Tournament. The tournament will be a four-team, double-elimination tournament hosted May 9-11 by the regular season champion.
PRESEASON POLL: The Portland State softball team enters the 2013 season as the favorite to win the inaugural Big Sky Softball Championship as selected by conference coaches. Portland State finished first in the coaches' poll with 35 points including five first-place votes. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in the preseason poll.
DOUBLE THE BLISS: With the addition of mid-year transfer
Lauran Bliss, the 2013 Vikings will have double the Bliss and double the fun.
Lauran Bliss joins junior
Becca Bliss on the roster though there is no relation between the two.
TOURNAMENT WIN: With the Vikings 2-0 win over Mississippi State at the NCAA Eugene Regional, the Vikings picked up their second NCAA Division I Tournament win and the first since 2006. It was also Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk's first career tournament win.
2012 NCAA EUGENE REGIONAL: The Vikings advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season in 2012 and the third time in the last four years. Portland State lost its tournament opener to Oregon before defeating Mississippi State 2-0 for its first tournament win since 2006. The regional came to an end with a 2-0 loss to BYU.
2012 PSCS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: The Vikings claimed their second straight PCSC Championship series by sweeping the Saint Mary's Gaels in Moraga, Calif. The Vikings took the first game 6-1 thanks to a four-run sixth inning capped by a
Becca Bliss three-run home run. It was tougher going in the second game but pitcher
Anna Bertrand led the Vikings to the series sweep with a complete game three-hit shutout of the Gales.
Brittany Hendrickson drove in the only run of the game with a single to right field scoring pinch runner
Aubrey Nitschelm from second.
2012 PCSC MOUNTAIN DIVISION CHAMPIONS: The Vikings won their third consecutive PCSC Mountain Division championship in 2012 after going 15-5 in conference play. They went 7-1 over their final eight conference games to secure the title.
2012 POST-SEASON AWARDS: The Vikings cleaned up the 2012 PCSC Mountain Division claiming three of the four individual awards.
Anna Bertrand was named the unanimous Pitcher of the Year while
Alicia Fine was named the Freshman of the Year. Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk was named the Coach of the Year. Six Vikings earned Mountain Division honors.
Jenna Krogh,
Karmen Holladay, Bertrand and Fine were named to the first team while
Crysta Conn and
Carly McEachran were named honorable mention. Bertrand was also named to the NFCA Division I Pacific Region Second team for the second straight year in 2012.
VIKINGS' 2014 NLIs: Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk announced the signing of seven players to National Letters of Intent for the 2014 season on Nov. 11. The 2014 recruiting class consists of
Amee Aarhus (Camas, Wash./Camas HS),
Mackenzie Bourbanis (Tacoma, Wash./Fife HS), Celena Carrisosa (Tracy, Calif./Merrill F. West HS),
Alex Flores (Hillsboro, Ore./Liberty HS),
Kelsie Gardner (Salem, Ore./South Salem HS),
Meagan Hendrix (Puyallup, Wash./Emerald Ridge HS), and
Jenna Stanford (Portland, Ore./Lincoln HS).
