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Kajikawa Classic • February 7-9 • Arizona State University • Tempe, AZ

vs. Colorado State Rams (0-0); Friday, Feb. 7; 4:00 p.m. PST
vs. Indiana Hoosiers (0-0); Friday, Feb. 7; 6:30 p.m. PST - Live Stats
vs. New Mexico Lobos (0-0); Saturday, Feb. 8; 11:30 a.m. PST
vs. Utah Utes (0-0); Saturday, Feb. 8; 7:00 p.m. PST - Live Stats
vs. California Golden Bears (0-0); Sunday, Feb. 9; 11:30 a.m. PST

First Pitch
This Week: The Portland State Vikings open their 2014 season with five games at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. It will be the sixth straight season that the Vikings have opened at the Classic. PSU will open with the Colorado State Rams Friday, Feb. 7 at 4 p.m. PST.

Kajikawa Classic: The Kajikawa Classic is a four-day tournament hosted by Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. Games will be played in two locations, Farrington Stadium on the ASU campus and at the Tempe Sports Complex where PSU will play all of its games.

Follow the Vikings: Live stats will be available for Friday's game against Indiana and Saturday's game against Utah. Links can be found on GoViks.com

Season Openers: Portland State is 7-10 in season openers since the 1996 season. The Vikings are 2-3 in their last five years.

First-Year Head Coach: Barb Sherwood is in her first season as head coach at Portland State. Sherwood spent the last five seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Virginia Tech. Sherwood added first-year assistant coaches Tory Yamaguchi (Indiana, '07) and Kelly Melone (Texas, '09) to her staff.

THE 2014 VIKINGS
The Vikings have done one thing over the past five seasons and that is … win. Not just win games but also win conference championships. Whether it was in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference or last year in the inaugural season of Big Sky Softball play, the Vikings have won conference titles.

The Vikings enter the 2014 season as the defending Big Sky Conference Co-Regular Season Champions and winners of the inaugural Big Sky Softball Tournament. The Vikings went 25-31 overall and 14-4 in conference action a year ago to claim a share of the regular season title with Idaho State.

Idaho State hosted the conference tournament, but it was Portland State that went 3-0 in the tournament to win it all and advance to its third straight NCAA Tournament and fifth in the last eight years.

First-year head coach Barb Sherwood and the 2014 installment of the Portland State softball team will begin their pursuit of another conference championship Friday, February 7 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., hosted by Arizona State University.

The Vikings will have their challenges along with way whether it is finding players to replace missing pieces from a year ago or running the gauntlet of a difficult non-conference schedule. The 2014 Portland State softball team is up for the challenge.

"Our team is very young as a whole but we have very strong upperclassmen leadership," Sherwood said. "Once you establish a tradition of winning, and winning championships, it's easier to buy in as an underclassman. They respect what the upperclassmen have done thus far and they want to be a part of it."

The Vikings return six starters and 12 letterwinners from a year ago but are overall a young team. Portland State has just two seniors and five juniors on the roster. The 20-man roster is made up of thirteen underclassmen including seven newcomers who will add to the team's depth and versatility.

Offensively, the Vikings should pick up right where they left off, led by junior IF Brittany Hendrickson. Hendrickson was the Vikings' "Triple Crown" winner a year ago after leading the team in batting average (.350), home runs (9), and runs batted in (45).

THE OUTFIELD
Senior centerfielder Becca Bliss will once again be a staple in the outfield for the Vikings after proving she was more than up for the task a year ago. Bliss has tremendous range and a good first step to help her track down the deep balls in the gaps.

In 2013, the unknowns in the outfield were the corners. This season, at least one of those questions has been answered in Aubrey Nitchelm who has taken over the right field spot.

"Aubrey Nitschelm has pretty much made a home for herself in right field," Sherwood added. "She's well on her way to becoming the most improved player from a year ago. She's hitting well. She's fielding well. She's throwing well. Literally everything is better, even since the fall. She's hunkered down and said that she wants to own that spot."

Left field is still a little in question, but that is not for a lack of talent. The outfield as a unit is arguably the deepest and most talented on the team. Sophomores Lexi Goranson and Candice Orozco will be fighting it out most of the year. It will probably come down to who has the hot bat at the plate.

"We essentially have eight or nine people who can play in the outfield, and they all do it very proficiently," Sherwood said. "I've said all along that the best nine bats were going to be in. Defensively, we have more depth out there than anywhere else."

THE INFIELD
Left side. Strong side. That's what the Vikings have on the infield anchored by senior third baseman Crysta Conn. Conn has started 157 of a possible 161 games at third base in her three-year career at PSU. She is coming off a career year hitting .302 with nine doubles and three home runs. Conn will get on base anyway possible including a Portland State record 33 career hit by pitches.

"Crysta is our rock," Sherwood said. "You're not replacing Crysta at third base. There has to be somewhat of a kamikaze mentality to play third base and she wears that very well. She's super aggressive. She's phenomenal on defense. Offensively, she's going to be a staple in the middle of our lineup."

Junior Alicia Fine will be back at shortstop where she's played since coming in as a true freshman. She has been solid defensively but looks to get back to where she was two years ago when she hit .336 with 31 RBIs as a freshman.

Second base is the biggest question mark on the infield for the Vikings going into the season. Sophomore Melissa Masters has been moved in from the outfield. The Vikings have also added a mid-year freshman transfer Shae Nelson. It will be another situation where the best nine bats will work their way into the lineup.

"Shae brings us a lefty bat and is a true triple threat," Sherwood added. "Melissa has just one of the prettiest swings out there. It's just a matter of who's going to step up and take the spot. Defensively, they're running neck-and-neck."

Hendrickson, who played a little bit of second base during the fall, moves back to first base where she was an All-Big Sky second team selection a year ago. Freshman Alex Flores will be pushing for the first base or designated player spots with her very strong bat. 

After being short on catchers last year, the Vikings get some added depth with the return of Kayla Norrie. Norrie missed all of last year with a knee injury. Lauran Bliss got the bulk of the playing time behind the plate as a true freshman and did well hitting .265 with four home runs and 26 RBIs.

"Lauran and Kayla have been working their tails off both defensively and offensively," Sherwood said. "We're going a little bit extra with those two because it's such an important position. It's another case where the best nine bats will be in. They've all been told where we stand with regards to needing to score runs."

PITCHING STAFF
One of the toughest losses to fill from a year ago will be in the circle for the Vikings. Anna Bertrand pitched the vast majority of innings for the Vikings over the past two years limiting the number of innings for this year's returning pitchers, Karyn Wright and Raya Johnson.

Wright threw the most innings of either returner a year ago with 63 innings under her belt. She threw well early in the season and picked up her first career win in her first start, a 2-1 win over Boise State. A tough schedule and not that many innings led to some struggles as she finished 2-7 with a 4.67 earned run average.

Wright has looked good during the fall and pre-season camp and looks to take a prominent role in this year's staff. Johnson and true freshman Meagan Hendrix round out the staff.

"Pitching wise, I've been exceptionally pleased with the work ethic of the three pitchers that we have," Sherwood added. "I've been pleased with their improvement level. They've literally done everything I've asked of them, and more. They've bought in from day one. They're all better than they were a year ago."

THE SCHEDULE
Once again the Vikings will run the non-conference gauntlet as they play in five non-conference tournaments over the first six weeks of the season. They will play 25 games on the road before coming home to the friendly confines of Erv Lind Stadium to open the Big Sky Conference season against Idaho State on March 22.

The Vikings will start the season at the Kajikawa Classic (Feb. 7-9) in Tempe, Ariz. before heading to Las Vegas for the Easton Desert Classic (Feb. 14-16). After a bye week, PSU will head to Northridge, Calif. for the CSUN Invitational (Feb. 28-March 1).
Portland State will head to Stanford, Calif. for the Stanford Louisville Slugger Classic (March 7-9) before closing out the non-conference tournament season at the Gaucho Classic (March 14-16) in Santa Barbara, Calif.

"We've set a number of goals this season," Sherwood said. "A couple of them are to come out of the non-conference part of the season stronger as a team, with a better team identity, and more confidence that we'll be able to handle any situation. It is a gauntlet of sorts early on. We're going to be tested. We have some moxy on our team to where we can punch back a little bit, be the aggressor as opposed to taking the hits. We're at a good place mentally."

Following the Gaucho Classic, the Vikings open conference play with Big Sky Co-Regular Season Champion Idaho State. The Vikings and Bengals tied for the conference title with 14-4 records in 2013. ISU hosted the conference tournament after taking the season series, 2-1, in Pocatallo. Each game in the season series went to extra innings. Game two, a 16-13 ISU win, went to  10 innings and spanned two days due to low light.

Portland State will then host North Dakota (March 28-29) before heading to Southern Utah (April 4-5) for a three-game set. After a home non-conference double-header with Seattle University (April 9), PSU will play back-to-back road series at Northern Colorado (April 11-12) and at Sacramento State (April 18-19). 

A pair of road doubleheaders against in-state rivals Oregon (April 22) and Oregon State (April 29) close out non-conference play.

The Vikings wrap up the regular season against Weber State at home May 2-3. The regular season champion will host the double-elimination Big Sky Softball Tournament May 8-10 with the winner advancing to the NCAA Tournament regional round May 15-18.

News & Notes
Power Bats: The Vikings had a power explosion a year ago resulting 45 home runs. The total was the second best in program history, four shy of the all-time mark of 49 set in 2006. The Vikings hit 26 solo home runs, 12 two-run home runs, six three-run home runs, and a grand slam. PSU hit just 27 home runs in all of 2012. 

Triple Crown: Junior 1B Brittany Hendrickson won the Portland State "Triple Crown" a year ago by leading the Vikings in batting average (.350), home runs (9), and runs batted in (42). Hendrickson had a trio of five-RBI games in 2013 against UC Riverside (3/2), East Carolina (3/8), and North Dakota (5/4).

Fine Coming Up on the Century Mark: Junior SS Alicia Fine enters the 2014 season two starts shy of 100 for her career. She started all 56 games at shortstop in 2013.

Preseason Poll: Despite being the defending Co-Regular Season Big Sky Champions and Big Sky Tournament Champions, Portland State was selected to finish fourth in the Big Sky Coaches' Preseason Poll. Idaho State was selected first followed by Sacramento State and Southern Utah.

Big Sky Tournament: The 2014 Big Sky Softball Tournament will be played May 8-10 at the home of the regular season champion. It will be a four-team double-elimination tournament.

Inaugural Big Sky Season: The Vikings finished in a tie for first in the inaugural Big Sky softball season in 2013. PSU and ISU finished with identical 14-4 conference records. The Bengals won the right to hast the conference tournament after taking the season series, 2-1, in Pocatello. 

Inaugural Big Sky Tournament: Portland State rolled through the inaugural Big Sky tournament in 2013 going 3-0 to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Vikings run-ruled Southern Utah, 8-0, behind home runs from Brittany Hendrickson and Aubrey Nitschelm. Hendrickson's home run was the first ever at the Big Sky Tournament. PSU then defeated host team Idaho State thanks to a two-run homer by Sadie Lopez in the top of the seventh to win 5-3. The Vikings then blanked Southern Utah again, this time 4-0, to win the conference tournament.

Three Straight: The Vikings made it to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season in 2013, fifth time in the last eight. The Vikings fell in the first game of the tournament to #11 Washington 2-1 despite a one-hitter from pitcher Anna Bertrand. The Vikings then fell, 5-0, to Minnesota to be eliminated from the tournament.