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Kajikawa Classic • February 6-8 • Arizona State University • Tempe, AZ
vs. Nevada Wolfpack (0-0); Friday, Feb. 6; 6:00 p.m. MST
vs. Fresno State Bulldogs (0-0); Friday, Feb. 6; 8:15 p.m. MST
vs. UTEP Miners (0-0); Saturday, Feb. 7; 11:30 a.m. MST
vs. San Jose State Spartans (0-0); Saturday, Feb. 7; 6:16 p.m. MST
vs. Fordham Rams (0-0); Sunday, Feb. 9; 9:30 a.m. MST

This Week
The Portland State Vikings open their 2015 season with five games at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. It will be the seventh straight season that the Vikings have opened at the Classic. PSU will open with the Nevada Wolfpack Friday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. MST.

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 season opener against Nevada. The Link can be found on GoViks.com. 

Social Media
Stay informed with Portland State softball on social media. Follow PortlandStateSB on Twitter and "Like" facebook.com/PortlandStateSB to stay in touch with all PSU stories and to find pictures and other great information. Check out Instagram.com/PortlandStateSB for the best in photos.

Season Openers
Portland State is 7-11 in season openers since the 1996 season. The Vikings are 1-4 in the last five years. 

New Year, New Field
The Portland State softball team will open its home schedule at a new field in 2015. The Vikings will play 17 home games at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex Field No. 4. It will be the first time in the last 34 years that the Vikings have not called Erv Lind Stadium their home field. 

The Wolfpack
Nevada went 27-25 overall and 9-15 in Mountain West play in 2014. The Wolfpack returns 12 letterwinners and six starters including Megan Sweet who started 52 games with a .368 batting average. She drove in 38 and hit eight home runs. Amanda Weis led the team with 43 RBIs and 12 home runs last season and hit .346 at the plate. The Wolfpack also returns a pair of nine-game winners in the circle. McKenna Isenberg went 9-5 with a 3.12 ERA over 96 1/3 innings. 

The Bulldogs
Fresno State went 31-21 overall and 15-9 in Mountain West action in 2014. The Bulldogs return 13 letterwinners and five starters. SR OF Brenna Moss is a two-time all-conference selection and hit .337 a year ago with 43 runs scored and 34 stolen bases. Fellow SR OF Michelle Solomon hit .244 from the plate but hit six home runs and drove in 34. Jill Compton is also a two-time all-conference selection in the circle after going 20-9 with a 2.16 ERA in 2014. She struck out 160 and walked 76 in 191 1/3 innings. 

The Miners
UTEP is led by second-year Head Coach, and former Portland State head coach, Tobin Echo-Hawk. It will be the first of two meetings against their former coach for the Vikings this season. UTEP went 17-34 overall and 9-15 in Conference USA action last year. Ashley Eldridge leads all returners with a .348 batting average a year ago with four home runs and 35 RBIs. Danielle Pearson is the team's leading pitcher from last year after going 7-14 in the circle with a 5.48 ERA. 

The Spartans
San Jose State went 30-24 overall and 13-11 in Mountain West competition in 2014. Jessie Hufstetier led all batters with a .441 average wile starting all 54 games. She had 16 doubles, two triples, five home runs and 44 RBis. She also had a 1.208 OPS. Allison Lang went 12-5 with a 3.03 ERA for the Spartans in the circle a year ago. 

The Rams
Fordham went 36-20 overall and 13-3 in Atlantic-10 action in 2014. They won the A10 Tournament before going 0-2 in the NCAA Tournament falling to Florida State and South Carolina. SO IF Amy Van Hoven went .367 at the plate last year with 40 runs scored and 12 doubles. Layla Lombardo hit .313 with 10 home runs. The Rams have to replace Elise Fortier this year who went .389 at the plate with 20 home runs and 73 RBIs. Michelle Daubman went 18-11 in the circle a year ago with a 2.73 ERA in 161 2/3 innings pitched. 

THE PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS
     A fresh start. That's what the 2015 Portland State softball team has going into the season. As the calendar turned to January, the Vikings were in the middle of two key projects in preparation for the upcoming season: a revitalization of their locker room and a move to a new home field.
     The Vikings will move their home field to the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex starting this spring. Portland State will play at a newly remodeled Field No. 4. The field will feature an all dirt infield, a fixed outfield fence, new bullpens, indoor batting cages located in Ron Tonkin Field, home of the Hillsboro Hops, and a new press box.
     It will be a big move for the Vikings who have called Erv Lind Stadium in Portland's Hollywood district their home field for over 30 years.
     "We played really well out in Hillsoboro this fall and had some great crowds," second-year Head Coach Barb Sherwood said. "I'm looking forward to some even bigger crowds this spring. The sightlines are remarkable; they can literally see the game no matter where they stand in the parking lot or outside of the fences. It's really conducive to a lot of people cheering us on. There was a very lively spirit out there in the fall."
     The Vikings also remodeled their locker room from literally the ground up. It was completely stripped down, redesigned, and repainted. They brought in brand new lockers and storage shelving along with shelving to store past and future conference championship trophies.
     Portland State will have its challenges along the way this year as it attempts to get back to the top of the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings will have to find players to replace missing pieces from a year ago.
     The 2015 Vikings return six starters and 14 letterwinners from a year ago along with their entire pitching staff. They add three junior college transfers in Ashley Smith, Kristen Crawford, and Rayleen Pallan and freshman Mariah Gonzalez into the mix. PSU will also get Lauran Bliss back after missing virtually the entire 2014 campaign.
     Offensively, the Vikings should pick up right where they left off, led by senior IF Brittany Hendrickson. Hendrickson led the Vikings with a .338 batting average in 2014. She also posted team highs in RBIs (28), walks (17), and slugging percentage (.515). Her 14 doubles in 2014 tied for fourth all-time at Portland State, three shy of Kiauna Anderson's record of 17 set in 2001.
    Coach Sherwood and the 2015 installment of the Portland State softball team will begin their pursuit of another conference championship Friday, February 6 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., hosted by Arizona State University.

THE OUTFIELD
     The Vikings return a lot of experience in the outfield. Senior Aubrey Nitchelm started all 44 games for the Vikings in right field while posting a career-year offensively. She will anchor the outfield again this year. She hit a career-high .314 with 19 runs scored, two home runs, and 25 RBIs.
      The gap that will need to be filled for the Vikings is up the middle. They will have to find a replacement for two-year starter Becca Bliss.
     "Lexi (Goranson) played in center field in seven of our eight games during the fall," Sherwood said. "She's faster than she was last year. Mackenzie Bourbanis has also played out there and handles the bat very well. She puts the ball in play and runs well."
     Goranson and Candice Orozco platooned in left field and are both back for 2015. The Vikings also return Brianna Celaya and Jenna Stanford who have experience in the outfield. Gonzalez may also see time in the outfield.
 
THE INFIELD
     The infield has been one of the strongest defensive assets for the Vikings over the past few years. For the first time in four years the Vikings will have to find a new third baseman and for the first time in three years they will have to find a new shortstop.
     It may be tough to replace a whole side of an infield but Sherwood thinks she has the people in place for the new season. Transfers Rayleen Pallan and Ashley Smith look to jump right in and plug the gaps on the infield.
     "Rayleen has taken charge of playing third base," Sherwood said. "She played a lot there during the fall as did sophomore Celena Carrisosa. Both of them are scrappy infielders, lefty slappers, and handle the bat well. It'll be a matter of who takes that spot."
     Pallan played on year at Long Beach City College where she hit .341 with 34 runs scored, and 16 RBIs. She had an OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging) of .799. She handles the bat well striking, out only eight times in 149 at bats.
     Smith played in the Junior College Division I Nationals Championships where she hit well throughout. She hit .337 over two years with 71 runs scored, 57 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases at Tallahassee Community College. She had 29 multi-hit games at TCC including a 4-for-4 game in 2014.
     Shae Nelson started all but one game at second base during her freshman season. She had stretches of dominance at the plate and in the field but also stretches of inconsistency. Melissa Masters is also a very viable second baseman and may hit her way into the lineup.
     Sophomore Alex Flores will see time behind the plate this year as redshirt sophomore Lauran Bliss is still returning from multiple injuries that kept her out of last season.
     "Alex spent a lot of time behind the plate last year," Sherwood added. "She is in a much better place this year. She's calmer and is learning to direct the infield and defense better."
     The anchor of the infield, and the middle of the Vikings' lineup, will be Hendrickson. She has led the Vikings in batting average and RBIs each of the last two seasons and has the third best career batting mark in Portland State's Division I era (317). Hendrickson's career slugging mark of .505 is second during the DI era. She has 81 career RBIs, three shy of 10th all-time and 20 shy of third all-time.

PITCHING STAFF
     The Portland State pitching staff is the deepest it's been in recent memory. The Vikings return four pitchers from a year ago and add Crawford who spent the past two seasons dominating the NWAACC (Northwest Athletics Association of Community Colleges) at Mt. Hood Community College.
     Crawford went 35-3 over two years with a combined 1.81 earned run average. She allowed just 58 earned runs in 223 2/3 innings. She stuck out 175 and walked 45 over her time at MHCC. She went 20-1 in 2014 with a 1.45 ERA slowing 23 earned runs over 111 innings. She also averaged 6.46 strikeouts per seven innings.
     Crawford will be a nice addition to a pitching staff that returns senior Raya Johnson, juniors Karyn Wright and Masters, along with sophomore Meagan Hendrix. Wright and Hendrix started the majority of games for the Vikings with 23 and 11 starts respectively.
 
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 making their regular season debut at Gordon Faber No. 4 on March 21 against Southern Utah in their Big Sky Conference opener.
     The Vikings will start the season at the Kajikawa Classic (Feb. 7-9) in Tempe, Ariz. before heading to Las Vegas for the Wilson/DeMarini Desert Classic (Feb. 13-15). After a bye week, PSU will head to Long Beach, Calif. for the Long Beach-Louisville Slugger Invitational (Feb. 27-March 1).
     Portland State heads to the Sunshine State for the USF-Under Armour Showcase hosted by the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla. (March 6-8). The Vikings will close out the non-conference tournament season at the Wolf Pack Classic (March 13-15) in Reno, Nev.
     Following the Gaucho Classic, the Vikings open conference play against the 2014 Big Sky Softball Tournament Champions Southern Utah for a three-game set in Hillsboro starting Friday, March 21. After a Friday doubleheader, the series will conclude on Saturday, March 21.
     Three days later the Vikings will host the first of five games against Pacific-12 Conference opponents at Gordon Farber No. 4. They will welcome the Washington Huskies on Wednesday, March 25 for a 6 p.m. first pitch.
     Portland State will hit the road for five games starting with a three-game set at Weber State (March 27-28) and a midweek doubleheader at Seattle on Wednesday, April 1.
 The Vikings then host Northern Colorado for three games (April 3-4) before hosting the Oregon Ducks for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 7. The Ducks enter the season ranked No. 2 in the country after going 56-9-1 in 2014.
     Portland State will hit the road for the next two weeks for conference series at Idaho State (April 10-11) and at North Dakota (April 17-18). The Vikings' 2014 series with North Dakota was delayed, moved, and shortened to two games because of inclement weather. With the move to the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex, the Vikings will have access to a full turf field if the dirt field becomes unplayable.
     The Vikings wrap up the regular season with eight straight home games. They start with another midweek doubleheader, this time against the Oregon State Beavers on Tuesday, April 21.
     Portland State will host Montana for a three-game Big Sky series for the first time (April 25-26), as the Grizzlies will sponsor softball for the first time in 2015. The Vikings will host the Sacramento State Hornets (May 1-2) to conclude the regular season.
     The 2015 Big Sky Softball Tournament will be played May 7-9 at the home of the regular season champion. The winner of the tournament will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.