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Big Sky Opening Weekend • March 22-23 • Portland, OR

Idaho State Bengals (15-10 Overall, 0-0 Big Sky)
Head Coach: Julie Wright (Ohio, '95)
Record at ISU: 57-91 (4th); Big Sky: 14-4 (2nd)

Portland State Vikings (3-19 Overall, 0-0 Big Sky)
Head Coach: Barb Sherwood (Troy, 1999)
Record at PSU: 3-19 (1st year); Big Sky: 0-0 (1st)

First Pitch
This Week: The Portland State softball team will open its conference slate this weekend with a three-game series with Idaho State at Erv Lind Stadium in Portland, OR. It will be a match-up of the 2013 Big Sky regular season co-champions as the Vikings and Bengals each finished the season 14-4 in conference play. The series begins with a Saturday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. and concludes Sunday at noon. 

Follow the Vikings: Fans can follow all three games live online via live stats at GoViks.com. There will also be a live video stream of the games at WatchBigSky.com with former softball head coach Teri Mariani calling the action. The broadcast will begin 10-15 minutes prior to the first pitch of the day's first game. 

Gaucho Classic Recap: The Vikings struggled at the Gaucho Classic II in Santa Barbara, CA dropping all five games. They were out-scored 49-11 over the five games and were out-hit .244-to-.433. Senior 3B Crysta Conn led the Vikings going 6-for-16 (.375) with a pair of doubles and a RBI. Junior RF Aubrey Nitschelm led the team with four RBIs and hit the team's first triple of the year against Monmouth to drive in two.

Looking at Idaho State: The Bengals, under fourth-year head coach Julie Wright, have picked up where they left off a year ago. Idaho State begins conference play with the best non-conference record in the league at 15-10 overall. ISU is 7-3 in its last 10 but lost to Boise State, 1-0, it's last time out. The Bengals started the season 5-0 before losing seven of their next eight including a pair of games against Arizona State.  Idaho State then went on a six-game winning streak but has gone 3-3 since coming in to conference play.
     The Bengals lead the league with a .341 team batting average, .494 team slugging percentage, and .418 team on base percentage. Idaho State is second in the league with 22 home runs and has a league-best 160 RBIs. They are a team that is successful running the bases going 35-for-28 in stolen base attempts.
     Vicky Galasso, the Big Sky's reigning Player of the Year, leads the Bengals, and the conference, with 10 home runs and 40 RBIs through 25 games. She also leads the league with an .836 slugging percentage and is tied for the league lead with teammate Kacie Burnett in runs scored with 32. Burnett has a league-best .494 batting average and a league best on base percentage of .510. She is also 13-for-14 in stolen base attempts.  Idaho State also has six players who have started 24 or more games and are hitting over .300 on the season. Defensively, the Bengals have allowed 31 earned runs on 30 errors this season. They have a team fielding percentage of .957, second worst in the Big Sky.
     The Idaho State pitching staff has a 4.47 ERA on the season. Jessica Tolmie leads the team with a 2.96 ERA in 26 innings. Haley Douglas has throw the most innings on the season (72.2) and is 9-6 with a 5.01 ERA. Bailey Foster is 4-3 on the season with a 4.47 ERA in 58 innings this year. Douglas and Foster combined for just 71 1/3 innings pitched in 2013.

Last Year vs. ISU: Idaho State took the first Big Sky Conference series, 2-1, last year in Pocatello, Idaho. All three games of the series went to extra innings including the second game that spanned two days. The Vikings took the first game 7-5 after they took advantage of an eighth inning error to plate two runs. Brittany Hendrickson drove in three with a three-run home run while Sadie Lopez drove in the game-winning runs with a bases loaded single in the eight.
     The Bengals evened the series with a 16-13 win in 10 innings in the second game. The game went so long it was postponed do to lack of light midway through the game and was picked back up the next day. The Vikings blew two separate five-run leads in the game before ISU won it on a three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th.
     Idaho State led 2-0 after the first inning thanks to a Vicky Galasso two-run home run. The Vikings tied it with a Crysta Con two-run home run in the top of the fourth. A solo shot gave the Bengals a 3-1 lead through five innings. Carly McEachran gave the Vikings a 4-3 lead with a two-run home run in the top of the sixth. Idaho State once again tied it with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. The Bengals then won it in the bottom of the ninth with another two-run home run. Five home runs drove in all 10 runs in the ball game as ISU took the series 2-1.
     With the 2-1 regular season series win, Idaho State hosted the Big Sky Tournament at the end of the season. After Portland State and Idaho State each won their first game, the two teams met in the winners's bracket on the second day. ISU took the lead with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning and it looked like a repeat of game three of the regular season was in order. The Vikings tied it on a throwing error in the top of the second. Each team scored a run in the fourth  before ISU took the lead with an unearned run of its own in the bottom of the sixth. Sadie Lopez hit a two-run home run to deep left field to give the Vikings the lead at 4-3. They would tack on another run in on an RBI single from Becca Bliss to go up 5-3.
     Senior RHP Anna Bertrand sat down the Bengals in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win. Idaho State would fall later that day to Southern Utah to be eliminated from the tournament. Portland State went on to defeat Southern Utah in the championship game to win the inaugural Big Sky Tournament.

Up Next: The Vikings continue Big Sky Conference play Friday and Saturday March 28 & 29 against North Dakota at Erv Lind Stadium. Friday's doubleheader is slated for a 4 p.m. start with Saturday's game set for a 1 p.m. first pitch.

News & Notes
Big Sky Openers: Portland State went 2-1 against Southern Utah to open Big Sky Conference play in 2013. Portland State is 5-1 in its last conference openers going back to the Pacific Coast Softball Conference.

Home Field Advantage: Portland State has embraced its home field advantage at Erv Lind Stadium over the past five years. The Vikings are 50-26 (.657) overall at Erv Lind and 43-9 (.827) in conference play over that span. PSU went 10-2 in conference play in 2012 and a perfect 12-0 in 2010.

Three-Bagger: Junior RF Aubrey Nitschelm hit the Vikings' first triple of the season to drive in two runs against Monmouth (3/16).

Celaya's Big Weekend: Sophomore OF Brianna Celaya had the best weekend of her young career going 5-for-12 (.417) with a pair of doubles and the first three RBIs of her career at the Stanford Louisville Slugger Classic. She opened the weekend going 1-for-3 with her first career RBI against BYU. She then hit safely in both games against No. 17 Stanford before recording her first multi-hit game of her career going 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBIs against UC Daivs (3/8) to cap a four-game hitting streak.

Wright the Workhorse: Sophomore RHP Karyn Wright started eight of the last 10 games for the Vikings and has thrown five complete games. She threw a then-career-high 7 2/3 innings pitched against BYU (3/7) before topping that three games later going eight innings against UC Davis (3/8). Wright has thrown 45 1/3 innings out of the team's 59 1/3 innings over the last 10 games.

Fine Turning it Around: Junior SS Alicia Fine extended her season-high hitting streak to six games before having it broken at UC Santa Barbara (3/15). She went 7-for-17 (.412) with a run scored, RBI, and a walk over the stretch.

Stolen Bases: Portland State is 11-for-16 in stolen base attempts through 22 games this season. The Vikings  barely ran last year going just 10-for-16 in 56 games. Senior CF Becca Bliss is 3-for-3 while freshman 2B Shae Nelson and junior RF Aubrey Nitschelm are each 2-for-3.

The Wright Stuff: Sophomore RHP Karyn Wright posted her first career complete game shutout in the Vikings' 2-0 win over Rutgers (3/2) at the CSUN Invitational. Wright allowed just five hits over seven innings and did not allow a walk.

Conn Shows Off the Power: Senior 3B Crysta Conn hit her team-leading third home run of the season to give the Vikings a 2-0 win over Rutgers (3/2). Conn is one home run shy of her single-season best of four home runs set as a freshman. Conn's home run against the Scarlet Knights was the first home run of the season by the Vikings in a game which they won.

Chicks Dig The Long Ball: Portland State hit five home runs in a 13-12 loss to Hawai'i (2/15) at the Easton Desert Classic. Not only did the Vikings hit five home runs, they hit five home runs by five different players, three in one inning.

Solid in the Field: The Vikings have played solidly in the field this season games for a league-best .975 fielding percentage. The fielding mark is up from a year ago when the Vikings had a .956 fielding percentage and committed 1.3 errors per game. 

Going Streaking: Aubrey Nitschelm and Alicia Fine have each gone on six-game hitting streaks this season.
Nitschelm went 8-for-18 (.444) with four runs scored a double and a home run while driving in six over her streak while Fine went 7-for-17 (.412) with a run scored, RBI, and a walk over her stretch. Brittany Hendrickson and Shae Nelson have each tallied five-game hitting streaks this season.

Conn off to a Hot Start: Senior 3B Crysta Conn got her senior year off to a hot start, going 8-for-16 (.500) over the first five games. She hit safely in four games, three straight, with four multi-hit games. She slugged .750 with a double and a home run and drove in four over that span. Conn has a team-high five multi-hit games this season. 

Hendrix Gets First Win: Freshman LHP Meagan Hendrix picked up the first two wins of her career at the Kajikawa Classic. Hendrix has had some good moments and some not so good moments in the circle. She combined for her first career shutout, a 10-0 win over New Mexico in five innings, but has also given up four home runs, including a grand slam.

Bliss Out For Season: Sophomore C Lauran Bliss will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining injuries to both of her wrists in a collision at first base against Indiana (2/7).