Complete Release in PDF Format

FIRST PITCH
     The Vikings hit the road once again this week for their final Big Sky Conference series of the season. Portland State heads to Cedar City, Utah for a three-game series against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 5. The series concludes on Sunday, May 6 at 1 p.m. PT. 
     Portland State finds itself on the verge of clinching a berth into next week's Big Sky Softball Championship Tournament. The Vikings are one of five teams battling it out for the final four tournament spots. Sacramento State and host Weber State have already secured berths. 
     The Vikings are 2.5 games ahead of seventh-place Idaho State with three games to play. One Portland State win or one Idaho State loss will secure a tournament bid for PSU. 
     Portland State enters the final week of the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the conference. The Vikings are the only team to have won its last three conference series, and have won four overall. The last time the Vikings won five Big Sky series was in 2013 when they finished tied for first in the regular season and went on to win the inaugural Big Sky Softball Tournament. 

SOCIAL MEDIA: Stay informed with Portland State Softball on social media. See below for everything related to Portland State Softball.

• Twitter - @PSUViksSB
• Instagram - @PSUViksSB
• Facebook - @PSUViksSB
• YouTube - @GoPortlandState

ONLINE: Live stats will be available for all three games against Southern Utah. Links are available on GoViks.com.

LIVE VIDEO: A live video stream will be available for every game against Southern Utah. Links are available on GoViks.com.

SERIES WINS: The Vikings have won four Big Sky series so far this season, the most since they won five in 2013. Here's a list of the series wins this season:

• Portland State picked up its first conference series win of the year after defeating Idaho State, 2-1, at home. 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.
• Portland State earned its first series sweep of the season, albeit a weather-shorted two-game series, with a pair of wins at Northern Colorado (4/14). The Vikings took the first game 12-4 in five innings before plating two runs in the top of the seventh to take game two, 3-2. 
• Portland State picked up its third Big Sky series win of the season taking 2-of-3 at Montana. It is the first time since 2015 that the Vikings have tallied three series wins. PSU won five series in 2013, the first year of Big Sky softball.
• Portland State made it three-straight series wins, taking 2-of-3 from conference leading Weber State to close out its home schedule. Weber State took the first game 3-1 before the Vikings evened the series with a 2-1 win in game two behind an outstanding pitching performance by Emma Detamore. The Vikings needed a pair of home runs, including a two-run home run by SR OF Mariah Gonzalez, to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Portland State went on to win the rubber-match, 4-3 in eight innings, after a walk-off single by SO OF Marissa Bruno.

CONFERENCE ACE: JR RHP Alyssa Burk has established herself as the Vikings' pitching ace throughout the Big Sky season. During league play, Burk is tied for the league-lead with eight wins. She leads the league in both opponent batting average (.190) and innings pitched (89.2). She is second in both ERA (1.87) and strikeouts (78). 

MAKING HER MARK: JR RHP Alyssa Burk picked up her 10th win of the season with a complete game win against Montana on April 22. She became the first Viking since Anna Bertrand in 2013 to reach the double-digit win mark. 

SENIOR DAY: SR OF Mariah Gonzalez put together a career day in her final home game as a Viking. She picked up her first career extra-base hit with a double down the left field line in the third inning of the series finale against Weber State (4/28). She then hit her first career home run, a two-run shot, to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth. The Vikings then went on to win with a walk-off in the bottom of the eight.  

GOING STREAKING: JR OF Tayler Gunesch's recorded the Vikings' longest hitting streak over the last decade, if not longer, with a 19-game hitting streak. She hit .400 with 26 hits, 16 runs scored, 12 runs batted in, nine walks, and six stolen bases. JR C/DP Kaela Morrow posted a 10-game hitting streak earlier this season, while Rachel Menlove and Marissa Bruno bring seven- and six-game hitting streaks into play this weekend. 

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 26 long balls. Fourteen of the 26 have been hit by first-year players. FR C/DP Rachel Menlove has hit six home runs, SO IF Darian Lindsey has hit four, and SO IF Ashley Doyle has three home runs. Kaela Morrow leads the team with seven home runs.  

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 .333 batting average on the year. She also leads the team in hits (50), runs batted in (29), home runs (7), and slugging percentage (.553). 

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. 

BIG SKY TOURNAMENT
The Big Sky 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. 

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.