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FIRST PITCH
UP NEXT: The Portland State Vikings will take a break from Big Sky Conference play to host the No. 7 University of Oregon Ducks for a mid-week non-conference doubleheader Tuesday, April 16 at Erv Lind Stadium. Game one is slated for a 4 p.m. first pitch.
FOLLOW ONLINE: Fans not able to make it out to Erv Lind can follow both games live online via Live Stats and Big Sky TV. Links for both can be found on the softball schedule page at GoViks.com.
LAST WEEKEND: The Vikings picked up their second straight conference sweep by taking a three-game series from the Northern Colorado Bears. The Vikings opened the series with a doubleheader sweep of Northern Colorado on a soggy day at Erv Lind Stadium. Portland State took game one 5-0 before winning game two 9-1 in five innings. The Vikings then took the series finale in comeback fashion 5-4. SR
Sadie Lopez went 5-for-7 with three runs scored, two home runs, and seven runs batted in on the weekend. SR
Anna Bertrand threw all 19 innings tallying a 1.11 earned run average. She allowed just three earned runs and struck out 19.
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON: Oregon is currently ranked No. 7 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's coach's poll. Oregon is 33-6 overall this season and sits atop the Pac-12 Conference with a 10-2 record. Oregon hosts the University of Arizona for three games this weekend before heading to Erv Lind Tuesday. Oregon is 8-2 in its last 10, 4-1 in its last five. It has won each of its first four conference weekends dropping single games at Washington and at California.
Alexa Peterson is hitting .466 this season to lead the team. She has a team-best nine doubles and has seven home runs. She is slugging .830 to lead the team. Out of the players who have more than 20 at bats on the season, four are hitting over .400 while three more are hitting over
.300. Oregon has hit 55 home runs in 39 games this season with Kaylan Howard and Kailee Cuico accounting for 12 each. Oregon's .343 team batting average is seventh in the country as is its 1.41 home runs per game. Its .549 team slugging percentage is eighth.
The Oregon pitching staff boasts the best ERA in the Pac-12 with a mark of 1.47, which is fourth in the nation. Jessica Moore anchors the staff with a 17-3 record and a 1.43 ERA. She has thrown 118 1/3 innings allowing just 24 earned runs. She has struck out 107 on the season while walking only 26. Cheridan Hawkins has a 13-3 record with a 1.46 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .192 on the season against Oregon and have scored a total of 74 runs.
ALL-TIME vs. UO: Oregon holds that all-time series mark at 105-49-1. Oregon has won nine of the last 10 contests including a 7-3 win last season at the NCAA Eugene Regional. The last Portland State win in the series was a 4-1 win in Eugene on May 5, 2010. The last PSU win at home was a doubleheader sweep of Oregon on May 3, 2006. The Vikings won those games 4-0 and 3-2 respectively.
COMING UP: Following Tuesday's games with Oregon, The Vikings return to Big Sky Conference play when they head to Pocatello, Idaho for a three-game set with Idaho State.
NEWS AND NOTES
BERTRAND/LOPEZ SWEEP CONFERENCE HONORS: SR P
Anna Bertrand picked up her third straight Big Sky Pitcher of the Week honor while SR OF
Sadie Lopez earned her first career Big Sky Player of the Week honor. Lopez hit .714 (5-for-7) with three runs scored, a double, two home runs, and seven RBI over the Vikings' three-game sweep of Northern Colorado. Lopez slugged 1.714 with a .750 on base percentage for the weekend. Lopez hit .750 with runners in scoring position and with two outs. All seven of her RBIs came with two outs. Bertrand went a perfect 3-0 with a 1.11 earned run average in the Vikings' three-game sweep of Northern Colorado. Bertrand threw all 19 innings on the weekend allowing just five runs, three earned. She walked seven and struck out 19 batters. The three wins gave Bertrand 67 for her career, which tied her for the Portland State all-time career wins mark.
LOPEZ LIGHTING IT UP: SR
Sadie Lopez hit .714 (5-for-7) with three runs scored, a double, two home runs, and seven RBI over the Vikings' three-game sweep of Northern Colorado. Lopez slugged 1.714 with a .750 on base percentage for the weekend. Lopez hit .750 with runners in scoring position and with two outs. All seven of her RBIs came with two outs.
COMEBACK KIDS: Saturday's 5-4 comeback win over Northern Colorado was the first time this season that the Vikings have won a game after trailing after the fourth or fifth innings. The Vikings are now 1-14 when trailing after the fourth.
VIKINGS AND THE BIG SKY: Portland State sits atop the Big Sky Conference with an 8-1 record. The Vikings have swept the last two conference series against Weber State and Northern Colorado respectively. The Vikings are 3 ½ games ahead of second place Idaho State (4-2). Southern Utah is in third (5-4) with Sacramento State fourth at 3-3. Northern Colorado (3-6), North Dakota (2-4), and Weber State (2-7) round out the conference.
STRINGING 'EM TOGETHER: The Vikings go into this week's play riding a seven-game winning streak. Prior to the streak, Portland State had not won back-to-back games this season. The Vikings defeated Southern Utah to begin the streak before sweeping both Weber State and Northern Colorado in three-game conference sets.
CHASING HISTORY: SR
Anna Bertrand went 3-0 against Northern Colorado improving her career record to 67-44. Her 67 wins tie her with Mandy Hill (2005-08) atop the Vikings all-time career wins list. With her four shutouts this season, Bertrand is now the Portland State Division I Era leader in shutouts with 22.
CHASING HISTORY PART DEUX: SR
Carly McEachran has hit seven home runs this season, which ties her for 10th all-time on the Portland State single-season home runs list. She has blasted 17 career long balls, which places her fourth on the all-time list. Jana Rae Slatyon hit 18 from 2006-09. Mandy Hill hit 31 from 2005-08. Jackie Heide holds the record with 32 home runs between 2006-09.
HENDRICKSON'S CAREER DAY: SO
Brittany Hendrickson put together a career game in the Vikings 9-2 victory over Weber State on March 30. She recorded a career-high four hits going 4-for-4 and scored a career-high three runs. She also blasted a pair of home runs for her first career multi-home run game. She was a double short of the first cycle in PSU history after also recording a single and a triple in the game. She drove in four runs, one shy of her career high.
BRING 'EM IN BRITT: SO
Brittany Hendrickson has recorded a pair of five-RBI games so far this season. 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 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.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: Portland State has embraced its home field advantage at Erv Lind Stadium under Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. The Vikings are 48-21 (.696) overall at Erv Lind and 41-8 (.837) in conference play under Echo-Hawk. PSU went 10-2 in conference play in 2012 and a perfect 12-0 in 2010. The Vikings are 5-1 this season and have 10 remaining scheduled games at home this season including nine conference games.
FINDING THE LONG BALL: The Vikings have hit 31 long balls through their first 36 games this season. They have now eclipsed their season total of 27 from last season. They are on pace for 44 home runs. 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 their 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 who has hit one of the homers in each of the three games in which the Vikings have hit three as a team.
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 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.
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.
WEEKLY HONORS
BERTRAND/HENDRICKSON SWEEP CONFERENCE HONORS: SR
Anna Bertrand picked up her second consecutive Big Sky Pitcher of the Week honor, her 17th conference honor, while SO
Brittany Hendrickson earned her first career Player of the Week honor as the Vikings swept the conference honors for the week of March 25-31. Bertrand went 3-0 with a 1.26 ERA while allowing just three earned runs in 16 2/3 innings and striking out 17. Hendrickson hit .545 (6-for-11) with four runs scored, two home runs, and four RBIs. She slugged 1.364 on the weekend and had an on base percentage of .545.
BERTRAND WINS PITCHER OF THE WEEK: SR P
Anna Bertrand picked up her first Big Sky Conference Pitcher of the Week honor for the Week of March 17-24. Bertrand went 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA after allowing just four earned runs in 16 1/3 inning pitched against Southern Utah. She opened the weekend with a complete game two-hit shutout. She walked just one while striking out a season-high 13 batters. Bertrand pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief in game two before throwing another complete game in game three picking up her second win of the weekend. Southern Utah hit just .186 off her and she allowed just three hits with two outs. It was her 16th career conference pitcher of the week honor.
WEEKLY REVIEWS
WILDCAT SWEEP: The Vikings picked up their first sweep of the Big Sky Conference season with a three-game sweep of the Weber State Wildcats. Senior pitcher
Anna Bertrand was the pitcher of record in each, picking up three wins and improving to 9-12 on the season. She allowed three earned runs in 16 2/3 innings for a 1.26 earned run average en route to her second consecutive Big Sky Pitcher of the Week honor. She allowed just nine hits while walking nine and striking out 17. Sophomore
Brittany Hendrickson provided the offense for the Vikings, hitting .545 going 6-for-11 with four runs scored, a double, a triple, a pair of home runs, and four RBIs on the weekend. She went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and recorded her first multi-home run game of her collegiate career in the series finale. She slugged 1.364 and was named the Big Sky Player of the Week for the first time in her career.
CONFERENCE OPENER: The Vikings picked up their first Big Sky Conference series win defeating Southern Utah 2-1. The Vikings and Thunderbirds split the first two games before the Vikings took the rubber match by a score of 5-4. SR P
Anna Bertrand pitched a complete game shutout in game one of the series holding the T-Birds to just two hits. She also struck out a season-high 13 batters. FR C
Lauran Bliss went 3-for-3 with a two-run home run, her second of the year, to lead the Vikings to the game one win. Portland State held a 4-1 lead through four innings in game two before a four-run fifth for Southern Utah put it ahead and evened the series with the 5-4 win. The Vikings fell behind early in game three giving up three runs in the top of the first inning. Portland State tied the game at 3-3 after a two-run double by
Alexa Morales in the second and a leadoff home run by
Carly McEachran in the third.
Brittany Hendrickson blasted a two-run home run to straight away center field providing the game-winning RBIs as the Vikings won game three, and the series, by a score of 5-4.
SPRINGHILL SUITES: The Vikings went 1-3 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.
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 went 1-4 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, as the conference sponsors the sport for the first time. Portland State along with Idaho State, North Dakota, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, and Weber State make up the conference.
BIG SKY TOURNAMENT: The move to the Big Sky Conference will bring the inaugural Big Sky Softball Tournament. The tournament will run as 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 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.
2012 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).
