PORTLAND – Continuing tournament play, the Portland State softball team makes its second trip to Southern California this season as the Viking compete at the 2020 Gaucho Classic hosted by UC Santa Barbara beginning Friday, Feb. 28.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:

Date	Opponent	Time
Friday, Feb. 28	Santa Barbara	12 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 28	Bradley	2:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 29	Bradley	11 a.m.
Saturday, Feb. 29	Saint Peter's	3:30 p.m.
Sunday, Mar. 1	Santa Barbara	11 a.m.

 
Portland State enters its fourth tournament of the season with a 3-12 overall record after suffering a tough weekend in Hawaii. Finishing 0-5 in the Hawaii Invitational last week, the Vikings lost two games by only one run, falling to Kansas City 3-2 while the Rainbow Wahine completed a sixth-inning comeback to defeat the Vikings 8-7.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:
The Vikings had two players selected to the Hawaii Invitational All-Tournament Team in Darian Lindsey and Alexis Morrison. Lindsey finished with seven hits including two doubles while batting .433 on the weekend. Morrison batting .455, collecting five hits, four of which were extra-base hits, and four RBIs.
 
LEADING AT THE PLATE:
Lindsey has picked up where she left off last season, leading the team with a .349 batting average, collecting eight RBIs with two home runs. Marissa Bruno has recorded 11 hits while coming around to score 10 times to lead the team in runs.
 
FRESHMEN IMPACT:
It hasn't taken long for the Viking freshmen to make an impact on the team as Emily Johansen leads the squad with 14 runs batted, ranking second in the Big Sky in RBIs along with home runs with four. Grace Hosman holds the second highest batting average at .348 and has tallied the longest hitting streak of the season with seven games. In the circle, Olivia Grey leads in ERA and ranks seventh in the conference with an average of 3.74 in 33.2 innings of work and has collected the fourth most strikeouts with 31.
 
SCOUTING SANTA BARBARA:
The Gauchos enter their home tournament with a 5-11 overall record, going 2-3 against Big Sky opponents in the process with losses to Idaho State, Sacramento State, and holding a 2-1 record against Northern Colorado. Santa Barbara's big win of the season so far has been a 5-2 result against Ohio State last week while also picking up wins over New Mexico and Santa Clara. The Gauchos are 1-5 in their last six games as they make their return home.
 
The Gauchos rank second to last in the Big West with a .293 batting average and are last in runs scored with 60 on the season. Sammy Fabian and Ally Nodohara are both hitting .400-plus to lead their team, hitting .411 and .400 respectively. Sierra Altmeyer leads UCSB with 13 RBIs while batting .393.
 
Santa Barbara also last ranks last in the Big West in team ERA, holding a mark of 5.05 through 16 games. In 102.2 inning pitches, the Gauchos have allowed 88 runs, second-most, and have tallied 53 strikeouts. Alyssa Molina and Emily Schuttish have both earned two wins in the circle, holdings ERAs of 3.65 and 3.80 respectively. Schuttish leads with 16 strikeouts but has given up 13 extra-base hits so far.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. SANTA BARBARA:
Santa Barbara leads the all-time series against the Vikings, holding a 5-2 record. Portland State won the first two meetings back in 2000 and 2004 while the Gauchos have won the last five meetings, the last coming in 2014 winning 13-2 in six innings.
 
SCOUTING BRADLEY:
The Braves opened their season with a 3-2 win over #20/24 ranked Arkansas and will now enter the Classic with a 7-6 overall record. Bradley participated in the Golden State Classic along with the Vikings. Though they did not meet in the tournament, the Braves and Vikings shared several common opponents including UC Davis, Army, Hawaii and San Jose State. Both Portland State and Bradley picked up wins over Army and lost to San Jose State and Hawaii while the Braves collected a 6-3 result over UC Davis who defeated the Vikings. Other notable wins for the Braves this season include a 6-3 win over Sacramento State and a 2-0 result against Appalachian State.
 
A member of the Missouri Valley Conference, Bradly ranks fourth in the league in batting average at .277 while collected 62 runs off of 85 hits, and nine home runs. Pitching has been the weak point for the Braves so far this season, holding a team ERA of 5.25 in 74.2 innings pitched. Sydney Young leads Bradley at the plate, batting .429 while scoring a team-high 10 runs. In the circle, Grace French holds a perfect 3-0 record with a 2.78 ERA and 13 strikeouts.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. BRADLEY:
The Vikings' two games against Bradley will be the first meeting between these teams in program history.
 
SCOUTING ST. PETER'S:
St. Peter's has a late start to its season, opening the year at the Gaucho Classic. The Peacocks finished the 2019 season with a 9-47 record, going 2-18 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. A young team, St. Peter's has only five upperclassmen on its roster while bringing in nine freshmen this offseason.
 
The Peacocks lost their top performer at the plate from a season ago in Theamaris Ramirez who hit .261 with 25 RBIs on the year. Alina Guevara is their top returner from 2019, hitting .246 while leading the team in RBIs with 26. In the circle, St. Peter's returns their top two pitchers in Sydney Senerchia and Taylor Lewis. Senerchia recorded four wins with a 5.23 ERA in 21 appearances while striking out 114 batters. Lewis finished with a 3.78 ERA in six appearances, coming away with a 2-2 record.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. ST. PETER'S:
Saturday's games against the Peacocks will be the first meeting between these two teams in program history.