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FIRST PITCH
Portland State opens a season-long eight-game home stand this week against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks to open Big Sky Conference play. The Vikings open three-game series with a doubleheader on Friday, March 23 beginning at 1 p.m. PT.
Portland State is coming off its best weekend of the season after going 3-2 at the Seattle University Invitational. The Vikings hit .300 at the plate and had a 2.55 team earned run average in the circle.
Darian Lindsey and
Kaela Morrow each hit over .400 over the five games and each tallied six hits over the final three.
Tayler Gunesch extended her career-high hitting streak to 10 games after hitting safely in every games.
Alyssa Burk was named the Big Sky's Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 with an 0.88 ERA. She struck out a career-high 14 batters against Bryant University, the most by a Viking since 2011. She struck out 20 batters over the two starts, while walking just five.
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LIVE VIDEO: A live video stream will be available for all home games played on Field 4 (dirt) at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex this season. If, due to inclement weather, the games are moved to the turf field, there will be no live stream. Links are available on the Softball schedule page at GoViks.com.
ONLINE: Live stats will be available for all three games against North Dakota. Links are available on the Softball schedule page at GoViks.com.
UP NEXT: Portland State continues its home stand with a midweek non-conference doubleheader against Boise State on Tuesday, March 27 beginning at 1 p.m. PT. The Vikings then host the Idaho State Bengals for a three-game Big Sky set March 30-31.
POTW: JR RHP
Alyssa Burk earned her second career Big Sky Conference Pitcher of the Week honor after going 2-0 with an 0.88 ERA at the Seattle University Invitational (March 16-18). Burk opened the week with a career-high 14 strikeouts against Bryant (3/16). She added six strikeouts in a win over Seattle (3/17). She allowed two earned on six hits over 16 innings. Opponents hit just .118 against her over the two starts.
RACKING UP THE K'S: JR RHP
Alyssa Burk struck out a career-high 14 batters in the Vikings' win over Bryan (3/16). The 14 strikeouts are tied the for the most by any Big Sky pitcher this season and the most since Anna Bertrand struck out 16 in 2011.
GOING STREAKING: JR OF
Tayler Gunesch extended her current hitting streak to a career-high 10 games after hitting safely in all five games at the Seattle University Invitational. Her streak is just the sixth double-digit hitting streak by a Viking over the last 10 years and the first since Brittany Hendrickson tallied hits in 10-straight games in 2015. Gunesch has hit safely in 16 of the last 18 games.
GOING DEEP: After having the worst home run per game average in the nation a year ago, there has been an infusion of power this season. The Vikings have blasted 17 long balls, which leads the Big Sky Conference, 80th in the nation. Nine of the 17 homers have been hit by first-year players. SO IF
Darian Lindsey, SO IF
Ashley Doyle, and FR C/DP
Rachel Menlove have each blasted three home runs.
Kaela Morrow leads the team, and is tied for fourth in the Big Sky, with five home runs.
WALK-OFF: Kaela Morrow hit the game-winning three-run home run in the bottom of the eight to give the Vikings an 11-8 extra-inning win over Toledo (3/7). It was the Vikings' first walk-off home run since 2016 and their first in extra-innings since Brittany Hendrickson in 2015.
CROOKED NUMBERS: The Vikings plated 13 runs in the bottom of the third inning in a 14-4 win over Bryant University (3/17). Their previous season high was seven runs in the bottom of the eighth against Toledo (3/7). It was Portland State's third game with double-digit runs this season and the most since scoring 15 runs twice in 2015.
FOUR DINGERS: Portland State hit four home runs, all solo and all by different hitters, in their 6-5 win over New Mexico State (2/24). It was the most home runs in a single game since the Vikings hit five against Hawaii in 2014. Portland State has hit multiple home runs in three games this season.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT: FR C
Rachel Menlove has become a mainstay in the middle of the Vikings' lineup. Whether behind the plate or as the designated player, she has found success at the plate. She is hitting .265 with 18 hits and seven runs scored. She has showed her power with four doubles and three home runs. She is second on the team with 14 RBIs and is slugging .456, third on the team.
LEAD-OFF HITTER: SO OF
Tayler Gunesch has led off every game this season. She is hitting .307 on the year with 15 runs scored. She is fourth on the team with 13 runs batted in and hit her first career home run to lead off the second game of a doubleheader against Toledo (3/7). She went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a career-high 4 runs batted in against the Rockets.
OPENING DAY WIN: Portland State picked up an 8-2 win over Sam Houston State to open the season. It was the first win to open the season for the Vikings since they opened the season with a 9-7 win over Nevada in 2015. Portland State is 4-6 in its last 10 games to start the season.
GRAND SALAMI TIME: JR C
Kaela Morrow became the first Viking since Brittany Hendrickson in 2014 to hit a grand slam. Morrow came up with the bases loaded in her first at bat of the season and hit her first home run in the top of the first against Sam Houston State. She went 2-for-4 with a run scored, her first career home run, which just happened to be a grand slam, and a career-high 5 RBIs. She became the first Viking since Alex Flores in 2016 to record five RBIs in a game.
COMPLETE GAMES: JR RHP
Alyssa Burk started the 2018 season right where she ended in 2017. She opened the year with a complete-game win over Sam Houston State. She allowed just two earned runs on two hits, she walked four and struck out five. It was her ninth-consecutive complete game, dating back to last season. She closed out the 2017 season with eight-straight compete games in Big Sky Conference play, going 3-5 in the process.
THE ROSTER
Portland State has a very young roster again in 2018 with 18 underclassmen (7 freshmen and 11 sophomores).The Vikings return 12 letterwinners from a year ago, including a pair of pitchers. They add 10 newcomers, including a trio of sophomore transfers.
BIG SKY TOURNAMENT
The Big Sky Conference Championship will be held May 10-12 in Ogden, Utah. It will be hosted by Weber State due to the Wildcat's regular season championship in 2017. Six teams will qualify for the double-elimination tournament with the winner earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
