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FIRST PITCH
     Portland State hits the road again this week for its second of three-straight Big Sky Conference road series. The Vikings head this week to Greeley, Colo. for a three-game series against the Northern Colorado Bears, beginning with a doubleheader on Friday, April 13 at 1 p.m. MT.
     The Vikings are looking to get back into the win column after dropping all five games last week. They dropped a pair of close games to No. 5 Oregon, before suffering their first conference sweep of the season with three losses at Sacramento State.  
     Over the past five games, the Vikings pitching staff and thrown well, allowing just four runs per game. On the flip side, the bats have gone cold. Portland State has scored just five runs over the last five games and is hitting a collective .165. 

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LIVE VIDEO: There will be no live video stream for the series at Northern Colorado.   

ONLINE: Live stats will be available for every game this week. Links are available on the Softball schedule page at GoViks.com.

GOING STREAKING: JR OF Tayler Gunesch's career-high 19-game hitting streak came to an end in the first game of a three-game series at Sacramento State on April 5. Over the course of the 19 games, she hit .400 with 26 hits, 16 runs scored, 12 runs batted in, nine walks, and six stolen bases. After going 0-for-3 against the Hornets in game one, she reached safely over the next two games, going 3-for-7 at the plate with a pair of runs scored.

SERIES WIN: Portland State picked up its first conference series win of the year after defeating Idaho State, 2-1, at home last weekend. The Vikings took the first game 2-1 in 10 innings behind a tremendous pitching performance by JR RHP Alyssa Burk. After dropping game two 5-4, Burk threw her first complete-game shutout in game three as the Vikings took the series with a 5-0 win in the rubber-match. 

FREE BASES: Portland State is average a full walk per game better in 2018 than it did a year ago. The Vikings averaged 1.24 walks per game in 2017, and 2.24 walks per game this season.  

CONFERENCE ACE: JR RHP Alyssa Burk has established herself as the Vikings' pitching ace through six Big Sky games. During league play, Burk leads the league in innings pitched (49.2), opposing batting average (.158), batters struck out (52), and is tied for second in wins. Her 2.11 conference ERA is third overall.  

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. 

DOUBLE-DIGIT K'S: Over the last 10 seasons, there have been 24 games where a pitcher has recorded double-digit strikeouts. Anna Bertrand leads the list with 12 double-digit strikeout games. JR RHP Alyssa Burk is second on the list with five after tallying three this season. 

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 21 long balls. Eleven of the 21 homers have been hit by first-year players. FR C/DP Rachel Menlove has hit five home runs, while SO IF Darian Lindsey and SO IF Ashley Doyle have each blasted three home runs. Kaela Morrow leads the team with six home runs.  

LEAD-OFF HITTER: SO OF Tayler Gunesch has led off all but one game this season. She is hitting .330 on the year with 22 runs scored. She has driven in 14 and hit her first career home run to lead off the second game of a doubleheader against Toledo (3/7). She has hit safely in 27 of her last 30 games, which includes a career-high 19-game hitting streak.

WALK-OFF: JR C/DP Kaela Morrow hit a 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. 

CAREER YEAR: Kaela Morrow is having a career-year as a junior. She leads the team with .336 batting average. She also leads the team six home runs, 24 runs batted in, and a .571 slugging percentage. She leads the team with 13 multi-hit games and is second with five multi-RBI games. 

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. SO IF Ashley Doyle racked up the Vikings' second grand slam of the season in a 6-1 win over Bryant on March 16. 

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. 

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. 

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. Burk has a team-high 11 complete games in 2018. 

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.