When North Dakota left and the Big Sky Conference fell to seven teams, a scheduling conflict arose. Each week there would be three conference series while one team had a bye week. This week, for the first time since head coach Meadow McWhorter arrived at Portland State, the team will have a break from conference play.

But the Vikings aren't spending it relaxing off the diamond. They will challenge themselves with a home doubleheader against Oregon State before heading to Seattle to participate in the Seattle Invite II. They will face Santa Clara twice and North Dakota State in the tournament.

"This is rare territory for us, we've never had a bye week in previous years," McWhorter said. "It's definitely a new challenge for us, but we're also in a place where we don't have a high number of eligible players on our roster. Typically, you might be able to play some kids that haven't got the chance to play much in games past, but for us everybody is a contributor."

The Vikings are coming off a series win against Northern Colorado and have two straight wins on their resume heading into the doubleheader against Oregon State. Alyssa Burk was the main catalyst behind the wins, stepping up her game inside the circle with back-to-back complete game shutouts against the Bears. The performance was enough to earn her the Big Sky Pitcher of the Week honor.

The offense provided enough of a punch, scoring seven runs over the two wins, to guarantee the series win. It was an important weekend for the Vikings in more ways than one. Not only did they snap a five-game losing streak, they also got Tayler Gunesch back into the lineup after she had missed the start of the season with an injury. She made an instant impact, starting her season at the plate 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs.

Now, with a healthy squad that has gained momentum behind a conference series win, Portland State has a set goal in mind going into the bye week.

"Really utilizing this weekend to build the momentum, but also continue to improve in some of the areas where we have lacked,"  McWhorter said. "We want to keep building confidence going into our next conference series against Montana."

Oregon State comes to town on Wednesday for a midweek doubleheader, providing the Vikings a chance to knock off a power five school. The Beavers are 17-13 on the year but enter the week on an eight-game losing streak. The chance for an upset is appealing, but PSU is handling it just like any other game.

"We just want to control what we can control," McWhorter said. "We want to make sure we have quality at bats, that our pitchers really attack their spots and that we put a great defense behind them. It's always a great challenge playing a power five team and seeing what we can do and rising to the occasion."

After that, Portland State will hit the road to Seattle for three games as part of the Seattle Invite II. They will play Santa Clara in the lone game Saturday before taking on North Dakota State and playing a rematch with Santa Clara Sunday morning.

Next week, the Vikings resume conference play with a road trip to Montana, who had the first bye week of the season but is coming off a 1-2 series loss to Idaho State.

GAME COVERAGE

The Oregon State doubleheader, which begins at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, can be viewed on Pluto TV Channel 232 with Teri Mariani on the call. Live stats for every game this weekend can be found on ViksLive.com.

SCOUTING OREGON STATE (17-13, 1-8 Pac-12 / .257 / 4.35 ERA)

-The Beavers have lost eight straight games entering the midweek doubleheader. They are just 1-8 in Pac-12 conference play, with the lone win coming against Arizona State.
-Missy Nunes leads the team with a .307 batting average. She has also hit six home runs and has 23 RBIs through 30 games. Frankie Hammoude leads the team with eight home runs and 27 RBIs.
-Nerissa Eason could get the start against the Vikings. She is 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA this season, but pitched mostly against non-conference teams. Mariah Mazon has the most starts and a 9-8 record.

SCOUTING SANTA CLARA (8-21 / .247 / 4.95 ERA)

-The Broncos have lost three straight games entering this weekend, which is their final non-conference tournament.
-Eleni Spirakis leads the team by batting .348. She is one of three Broncos with an average over .300, but she also has eight doubles and eight stolen bases. Hannah Russell is the team's RBI leader with 20.
-Santa Clara has hit just four home runs this year compared to 26 by its opponents.
-Regan Dias is the primary pitcher for Santa Clara. She has a 5-6 record and a 4.05 ERA.

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE (24-11, 6-0 SUMMIT / .288 / 2.91 ERA)

-The Bison have won 14 straight games coming into this weekend and are a perfect 6-0 in conference play so far. Their last loss came on March 9 against Purdue.
-There are five players batting over .300 for NDSU, two of which have averages above .400. Katie Shoultz is batting .418 with 17 stolen bases. Maddie Hansen leads the team with seven home runs while Cara Beatty has a team-high 24 RBIs.
-The Bison are a power team, hitting 27 total home runs. They also have four players with at least 20 RBIs this season and nine total players with double-digit RBI counts.
-KK Leddy has been dominant inside the circle, compiling a 13-6 record behind a 2.41 ERA. Paige Vargas has also been very good, going 9-4 with a 3.64 ERA.

POTW HONORS

Portland State has garnered a quarter of Big Sky Conference honors this season.

Darian Lindsey earned her second career conference POTW honor (2/11/19), she earned the final honor of 2018, after hitting .471 (8-for-17) with seven runs scored and two driven in. She closed out the week hitting safely in five-straight games, including three-straight multi-hit games.

Katie Schroeder picked up her first career Pitcher of the Week honor (2/18/19) after throwing a complete-game one-hitter to earn her first win as a Viking. She faced just 22 batters and threw 75 pitches in the complete game win.

Darian Lindsey picked up her second POTW honor of the season after leading the Vikings to a 3-2 record, while hitting .500 (9-for-18). She scored three runs, drove in six, and hit her first home run of the season. She had an OPS of 1.293 over the five games.  

Alyssa Burk won her first Pitcher of the Week honor (4/1/19) this season and third of her career. She pitched back-to-back complete game shutouts against Northern Colorado, striking out 23 total batters on the weekend. She didn't allow a single run in 14.2 innings, walked zero batters and allowed just five total hits.

GOING STREAKING

The Vikings currently have a number of hitting streaks active, including a couple that reached five games during the Northern Colorado series. Jessica Flanagan and Kaela Morrow each have five-game hitting streaks going, while Alexis Morrison and Marissa Bruno have recorded at least one hit in four straight games.

Darian Lindsey, who earlier this season recorded a hit in 17 consecutive games, is currently on a three-game hit streak and has reached base safely in four straight contests.


FINDING THE LONG BALL

After going nine games without a home run, the Vikings blasted five over the five games at the Amy S. Harrison Classic (Feb. 22-24). The five home runs came from five different players. Sala Pedebone became the first Viking with multiple home runs on the year after blasting two at the TSU Tiger Classic. Her first game as a go-ahead three-run home run to give the Vikings a 5-4 win over host Tennessee State (3/1). She added her third home run of the season, a two-run shot, against Ohio State in the Vikings' home opener (3/12).

In the Idaho State series (3/23), Rachel Menlove hit a pair of home runs and Riley Casper added one of her own to bring the Vikings total up to 11 for the season. Last weekend, Darian Lindsey hit her second of the season in a 4-0 win against Northern Colorado (3/29).

LAYING IT DOWN

The sacrifice bunt has been a particular point of emphasis for Head Coach Meadow McWhorter and the Vikings. In 2018 the Vikings laid down 46 sacrifice bunts in 52 games (.885 per game) with Darian Lindsey leading the team with 10. Through 29 games, the Vikings have already dropped down 33 sac bunts (1.14 per game). Alexis Morrison leads the team with six while Rachel Menlove and Riley Casper each have five.