Complete Release in PDF Format

USF Under Armour Showcase • March 6-8 • South Florida • Tampa, FLvs. Wisconsin Badgers (6-10); Friday, March 6; 11:15 a.m. ET
at South Florida Bulls (12-7); Friday, March 6; 4:15 p.m. ET
vs. Mercer Bears (10-11); Saturday, March 7; 11:15 a.m. ET
vs. Boston College Eagles (12-7); Saturday, March 7; 4:15 p.m. ET
vs. Villanova Wildcats (3-6); Sunday, March 8; 9:00 a.m. ET

This Week
The Portland State Vikings (5-10 overall) continue their non-conference tournament season this week at the USF Under Armour Showcase hosted by South Florida in Tampa, Fla. Portland State will open with Wisconsin and host South Florida before facing Mercer, Boston College, and Villanova. Portland State will face South Florida, Mercer, and Villanova for the first time in program history. 

Follow the Vikings
Live stats will be available for selected games at the USF Under Armour Showcase. Check the softball schedule page on GoViks.com for more information. 

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.

The Badgers
Wisconsin enters play this week 6-10 overall after going 1-6 in its last seven games. The Badgers opened the season 1-4 at the Kajikawa Classic after falling to Cal St. Northridge, Utah Valley, Oregon State, and No. 2 Oregon. After four straight wins, two each over Texas A&M - Corpus Christi and South Dakota, the Badgers dropped six straight before defeating DePaul, 9-0, their last time out. Five of their 10 losses have been by just one run, they are 1-5 in one-run games this season. 
     Wisconsin is hitting .274 through 16 games while opponents are hitting .308. The Badgers have been out-scored 78-72. They have hit just two home runs this season and driven in just 55 runs. They are slugging .358 as a team and have a team on-base percentage of .363. Wisconsin likes to run and is 50-for-61 in stolen base attempts, averaging over three stolen bases per game. 
     The Badgers' pitching staff has a combined earned run average of 4.23. They have allowed 63 earned runs over 104 1/3 innings this season and have combined for 39 walks and 58 strikeouts. 
     Maria Van Abel leads the team with a .385 batting average, 11 runs scored, and is 14-for-18 in stolen base attempts. Chloe Miller is hitting .357 on the season with five doubles and a team-high 14 RBIs. Taylor-Paige Stewart has thrown a team-high 50 1/3 innings and is 3-5 with a 4.09 ERA. She has made eight starts and has thrown seven complete games, including one shutout. 

The Bulls
South Florida is 12-7 overall this season and 11-6 at home. The Bulls opened the season going 3-2 at the USF Softball Classic. They again went 3-2 this time at the USF President's Day Weekend Tournament. They have won six of their last seven games. Five of their seven losses have come to ranked opponents including a 10-5 loss to No. 1 Florida on the opening weekend. 
     South Florida is hitting .304 as a team while opponents are hitting .247. The Bulls have out-scored opponents 108-75 and have racked up 35 extra-base hits (18 doubles, 7 triples, 10 home runs) for a .436 team slugging percentage. They have a .392 on-base percentage as a team and are 31-for-36 in stolen base attempts. South Florida's pitching staff has allowed just 57 earned runs over 124 innings for a 3.22 team ERA. The Bulls have allowed just 18 unearned runs on 21 errors this season. 
     Juli Weber leads the team with a .442 batting average. She has scored 13 runs and driven in nine runs. Lee Ann Spivey leads the team with six doubles, four home runs, 24 RBIs, and a .796 slugging percentage. She is also hitting .388 on the season. Sam Greiner is 5-1 on the season in the circle with a 3.07 ERA. She has allowed just 20 earned runs over 45 2/3 innings.

The Bears
Mercer comes into play at the USF Under Armour Showcase 10-11 after dropping its last to games to Georgia State. The Bears opened the season going 5-2 before dropping two straight. They then went 5-5 over their next 10 games before dropping the doubleheader to Georgia State. They have faced ranked opponents four times going 0-4. 
     Mercer is hitting .289 as a team this season while opponents are hitting .280. The Bears have been out-scored 118-111 over 21 games. They have hit 15 home runs and given up 31 long balls. Mercer is slugging .432 with a .399 on-base percentage. The Bears are 32-for-42 in stolen base attempts and have committed 28 errors. The Bears' pitching staff has allowed 105 earned runs over 133 innings for a 5.53 team ERA. 
     Natalie Shiver leads the team with a .429 batting average. She has three home runs and 12 RBIs and is slugging at an .800 clip. Riley Carter is hitting .339 and leads the team with 18 runs scored and is tied for the team leads in home runs (4) and RBIs (14). Kristen Stevens has thrown a team-high 66 2/3  innings this season and has allowed 50 earned runs for a 5.25 ERA. 

The Eagles
Boston College is 12-7 entering play this weekend. The Eagles went 7-3 over their first 10 games before winning four straight. Since, they have gone 1-4 with a trio of conference losses at Florida State. 

The Wildcats
Villanova is 3-6 overall this season. The Wildcats opened the season 1-4 at the EMU Madeira Beach Invitational  before going 2-2 at the USF Under Armour Invitational the next weekend.  
     The Wildcats, and their opponents, are hitting .240 at the plate this season over nine games. They have been out-scored 33-22 and they have hit just nine extra-base hits (eight doubles and one home run) for a team slugging percentage of .288. Villanova's pitching staff has allowed 28 earned runs over 59 innings for a 3.32 team ERA. 
     Lauren Herschberg leads the team with 13 hits for a .382 batting average. No other Wildcat is hitting over .300. Two players are tied with four RBIs. Kate Poppe has thrown 33 innings in the circle this season and has compiled a 2-3 record with a 2.76 ERA. 

Up Next
The Vikings will head to Reno, Nev. next week for another five-game tournament at the Wolf Pack Classic hosted by Nevada. Portland State will take on former Pacific Coast Softball Conference rival St. Mary's three times and host Nevada twice. 

News & Notes
She's Heating Up
Senior IF Brittany Hendrickson put on a hitting clinic last weekend in Long Beach. She started the weekend going 4-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored, and three RBIs against Seattle (2/27). She hit safely in four of the five games and improved her batting average by 90 points and is now hitting .349 on the season. Her 4-for-4 performance was the first four-hit game for a Viking since Alicia Fine's 4-for-4 day against Southern Utah last April. 

Hitting Streaks
Sophomore IF Shae Nelson is currently riding a season-long five-game hitting streak. She is hitting .333 (5-for-15) with three runs scored, three RBIs, a double and a walk over the last five games. Junior IF Ashley Smith has hit safely in each of the last three games going 5-for-9 (.556) at the plate. She has also scored four runs over the stretch. 

When it Scores, It Wins
Portland State is a perfect 5-0 this season when scoring six-or-more runs in a game. The Vikings are 0-10 when scoring fewer than six runs. 

Catcher Producing
Sophomore C Alex Flores has provided the Vikings some offensive power behind the plate this season that they were missing a year ago. Portland State catchers accounted for three runs scored, one home run and eight RBIs a year go. Flores is hitting .205 this season with five runs scored, six RBIs, two doubles, two home runs, and seven walks.

You Get a Walk, And You Get a Walk
Portland State hitters combined for a season-high 14 walks in a 10-6 win over Boise State (2/14). Junior OF Lexi Goranson walked four times in the game, scored a run, and drove in two RBIs, all on walks. Two others, Rayleen Pallan and Shae Nelson, each walked three times in the game.

One for the Books
Sophomore OF Jenna Stanford came into the game against Utah Valley (2/14) hitless for her career in limited action. She picked up her first career hit against the Wolverines in a big way. She came off the bench in the top of the fifth inning and hit a pinch hit, three-run, home run to put the Vikings up 10-0. 

Pinch Hit Homer
Sophomore OF Jenna Stanford's pinch hit home run was the first by a Vikings since Kayla Norrie hit one in April of 2011. Norrie's home run also came against Utah Valley. 

Plate Discipline 
Portland State has walked 60 times over the first 15 games of the season (4.0 walks per game). The Vikings walked a total of 84 times in all of 2014 (1.9 walks per game). Portland State batters have walked five or more times in a game five times including a season-high 14 times against Utah Valley (2/14). 

Complete Game Shutout
Junior RHP Kristen Crawford threw the first complete game shutout of her Portland State career against Utah Valley (2/14). Crawford allowed three hits and two walks over five innings of the Vikings' 10-0 win. She also struck out two. 

Finding the Power
Sophomore C Alex Flores blasted her first two career home runs of the season at the Kajikawa Classic. She hit a three-run shot against UTEP (2/7) followed by a two-run home run against San Jose State (2/7). 

Crawford Making Her Mark
Junior P Kristen Crawford made her mark on the Portland State pitching staff right away picking up a pair of wins at the Kajikawa Classic. She went 2-0 with a 1.91 ERA allowing just four earned runs over 14 2/3 innings. 

The Pressure's On
The Vikings put the pressure on the opponents on the base paths at the Kajikawa Classic going 10-for-12 in stolen base attempts. Junior OF Lexi Goranson went 4-for-5 on the base paths. 

Streaking to Start 2015
Junior OF Lexi Goranson finished the opening week with a four-game hitting streak. She hit .500 (6-for-12) with three runs scored, four stolen bases and a 1.100 OPS over the streak. 

Getting on Base
Senior IF Brittany Hendrickson reached base safely the first nine games of the season. Dating back to the end of 2014, Hendrickson reached safely in 14 straight games. 

2015 Season Notes
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.