vs. Utah Valley Wolverines (4-6); Friday, February, 26; 4:30 p.m. PST
vs. Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (6-6); Friday, February, 26; 9:00 p.m. PST
vs. Utah Valley Wolverines (4-6); Saturday, February, 27; 12:30 p.m. PST
vs. Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (6-6); Saturday, February, 27; 4:30 p.m. PST
vs. Utah Valley Wolverines (4-6); Sunday, February, 28; 12:00 p.m. PST

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This Week
     The Vikings head to the Aloha state this week for the Hawaii Invitational hosted by the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. The Vikings will play five games at the invitational. They will face off with the Utah Valley Wolverines three times and the Rainbow Wahine twice. 

Online
Live stats will be available for all five games at the Hawaii Invitational. Check the schedule page on GoViks.com for more information. 

Live Video
A live video stream may be available for the Vikings' two games against Hawaii.  

Social Media
Stay informed with Portland State Softball on social media. See below for everything related to Portland State Softball. 
• Twitter - @PortlandStateSB
• Instagram - @PortlandStateSB
• Facebook - @PortlandStateSB
• YouTube - @GoPortlandState

Hawaii Invitational
     The Vikings open the invitational against Utah Valley on Friday, Feb. 26 at 2:30 p.m. HT (4:30 p.m. PT). The Vikings will take on the Rainbow Wahine later in the day at 7:00 p.m. HT (9:00 p.m. PT). Portland State will take on both teams again on Saturday before seeing Utah Valley for the third time on Sunday. 
     Portland State last visited the Aloha state in 2013 where it went 1-2 in a rain-shortened Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament. The Vikings defeated East Carolina, 9-0 in five innings, to open the tournament before falling to #21 Hawaii twice. 

Last Week
Portland State went 0-5 last week at the DeMarini Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. The Vikings opened the classic with a tough 16-12 loss to CSUN. The Vikings' offense stagnated over the final four games, scoring just two runs, falling to Colorado State, Nevada, San Jose State, and UNLV.

Leading the Way
Junior IF/OF Shae Nelson leads the Vikings at the plate with a .393 batting average through the first 10 games. She has a team-high 11 hits and  leads the team with five multi-hit games. She has reached safely in each of the last three games. Nelson has a career .293 batting average and is sitting on 99 career starts. 

Flores Finds the Long Ball
Junior C Alex Flores connected on a pair of home runs last week at the DeMarini Desert Classic. Flores hit .500 (7-for-14) with three runs scored, two home runs, and six RBIs on the week. She posted a career day against CSUN (2/19) with a career-high four hits (4-for-4) along with a career-high 5 RBIs. 

Defensive Woes
Portland State has committed 19 errors this season, which have led to 27 unearned runs, 2.7 unearned runs per game. Five different Vikings have committed multiple errors this season. 

Up Next
The Vikings head to Southern California next week for five games at the San Diego Classic I co-hosted by San Diego and San Diego State March 4-6. The Vikings will take on Pittsburgh, San Deigo, Illinois-Chicaco, Grand Canyon, and San Diego State. Portland State fell to San Diego, 13-10, on Feb. 14 at the Kajikawa Classic. 

OPPONENT PREVIEWS
UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES
• Head Coach: Head Coach Nikki Palmer is 40-89 in three seasons leading the Wolverines. 
• Record: Utah Valley is 4-6 overall this season, 0-1 on the road, and 4-5 at a neutral site. 
• Top Hitter: Senior IF Tiani Hensley leads the team with a .417 batting average (10-for-24). She has recorded five extra-base hits (4 doubles, triple) along with seven runs and five runs batted in. She is 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts. Defensively, she leads the team in errors with six. 
• Top Pitcher: Kellee Ramsey is 1-1 with a 2.80 ERA. She has allowed 17 runs on the season but only eight have been earned over the course of 20 innings. She has appeared in eight games, making one start. Opponents are hitting .284 with five extra-base hits off her. 
• Team Notes: Utah Valley opened the season 1-4 on the season. The Wolverines then went 3-2 last weekend at the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. Utah Valley is hitting .294 as a team this season. The Wolverines have been out-scored 58-to-73 on the season. They are slugging .453 as a team with a .426 on base percentage. Utah Valley has committed 25 errors on the season, leading to 23 unearned runs. 

HAWAII RAINBOW WAHINE
• Head Coach: Head Coach Bob Coolen is in his 25th season at UH with an 903-544-1 record. Overall he is in his 30th year as a head coach with a 965-617-1 overall record. 
• Record: Hawaii is 6-6 overall this season, 4-2 at home and 2-4 at a neutral site. 
• Top Hitter: Sarah Muzik leads the Rainbow Wahine at the plate with a .389 average over 12 games. She leads the team with 14 hits (14-for-38). She has scored a team-high eight runs and is 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts. 
• Top Pitcher: Kanani Aina Cabrales is 3-2 on the season with a team-best 2.45 ERA. She has appeared in seven games, making four starts. She has thrown four complete games, including two shutouts. Aina Cabrales has allowed 17 runs, 12 earned, over 34 1/3 innings pitched. 
• Team Notes:  Hawaii opened the season 4-0 before dropping four straight. The Rainbow Wahine is 2-2 over their last four games. Hawaii is hitting .226 as a team through 12 games this season. The Rainbow Wahine have combined for 17 extra-base hits, including seven home runs. They are slugging .336 as a team with a combined .314 on base percentage. Hawaii is 12-for-16 in stolen base attempts. The Rainbow Wahine have committed 20 errors on the season, which has led to 14 unearned runs. 

2016 WEEKLY RECAPS
Week 2 - DeMarini Desert Classic (Feb. 19-21)
• Portland State went 0-5 at the DeMarini Desert Classic. 
• Portland State hit .252 with six extra-base hits. 
• Portland State committed nine errors, which led to 12 unearned runs over the five games. 
• Portland State opened the classic with a 16-12 loss against CSUN (2/19). 
• The Vikings scored just two runs over the next four games, being shut out three times. 
• Junior C Alex Flores went 7-for-14 (.500) with three runs scored and six RBIs. 
• Flores hit two home runs on the weekend, her first two of the year.
• Flores has hit safely in each of the last three games. 

Week 1 - Kajikawa Classic (Feb. 12-14)
• Portland State opened the season 0-5 at the Kajikawa Classic. 
• Portland State hit .311 with three doubles, a home run, and 16 RBIs.
• Senior OF Brianna Celaya hit .571 (8-for-14) with three runs scored, a double, home run, and two RBIs. She posted an OPS of 1.504 on the week.
• Senior IF Melissa Masters (.500), junior IF/OF Shae Nelson (.462), and senior IF Ashley Smith (.400) all hit over .400 on the weekend. 
• Portland State pitchers went 0-5 with a 9.54 ERA after allowing 52 runs, 37 earned, over 25 1/3 innings. 
• Junior LHP Meagan Hendrix went 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA over 14 2/3 innings pitched. She struckout 10 batters on the weekend. 
• Portland State committed 10 errors which led to 15 unearned runs on the weekend. 

2016 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
• Feb. 19 - Alex Flores hit first home run of the season against CSUN. Flores went 4-for-4 with a career-high four hits. She also drove in a career-high five runs. 
• Feb. 14 - Brianna Celaya hit the first home run of the season by a Viking against Arizona State. 

2016 PRESEASON NOTES
• Head Coach Barb Sherwood is in her third year of leading the Vikings. Portland State doubled its win total from year one to year two in both overall and Big Sky Conference wins in 2015. 
• Portland State returns six starters, 13 letterwinners, and nearly its entire pitching staff from last year's squad that went 16-35 overall and 8-13 in conference play. The Vikings add five newcomers, which includes a pair of freshmen and three transfers. 
• Portland State will have to replace the majority of its offensive production from a year ago. The Vikings graduated two seniors who accounted for over 30-percent of the team's hits (112), doubles (17), and RBIs (71), while accounting for 54-percent of the team's home runs (13).
• The Portland State pitching staff tallied a 4.72 team ERA in 2015 which was 2.38 points better than the previous season. The Vikings will have to continue to improve their team ERA if they want to contend for their second Big Sky Conference championship.
• The Big Sky Conference Tournament has been expanded to six teams for the 2016 season. The double-elimination tournament will be hosted by the regular season champion May 12-14. 
• Head softball coach Barb Sherwood has announced addition of 10 players for the for the 2016-17 academic year on Nov. 11, 2015. Sierra Boyajian (Newhall, CA/Hart HS), Marissa Bruno (Monterey, CA/Santa Catalina HS), Riley Casper (Encinitas, CA, La Costa Canyon HS), Elena Cook (Boise State, ID/Boise HS), Emma Datamore (Woodland Hills, CA/Louisville HS), Taylor Gunesch (Salem, OR/West Salem HS), Korina Krueg (Lodi, CA/Tokay HS), Alexis Morrison (Pendleton, OR/Pendleton HS), Alexxis Ponce (Whittier, CA/Santa Fe HS), and Hannah Self (Tigard, OR/Tualatin HS) will all join the Vikings in the fall of 2016.