PORTLAND – The Portland State softball team opens its 2021 campaign next Friday (Feb. 26), primed and ready to take the field for the first time in nearly a year.
 
Despite high hopes heading into 2020, the college softball season was cut short due to COVID-19. The Vikings ended the shortened season at 6-18 overall. Fifth-year head coach Meadow McWhorter and her squad head into the 2021 season after being picked fourth in the Big Sky preseason poll released earlier this month.  
 

VIKINGS' SEASON AT A GLANCE

Portland State will head down south to kick off its 2021 campaign. Competing in the Grand Canyon University Purple Classic, the Vikings will play five games over three days. PSU will open the tournament against Iowa State and will close with a matchup against the third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.
 
PSU will continue its non-conference schedule with back-to-back tournaments in early March. Following the Oregon Invitational and the Husky Invitational, they will face New Mexico State in a doubleheader before ending the non-conference portion of the schedule with a pair of games at the tenth-ranked University of Oregon.
 
March 27^th will mark the beginning of Big Sky Conference action, as the Vikings will host Montana at their home field in Hillsboro, Ore. PSU will face six Big Sky opponents before the regular season comes to a close, capping off conference play with a three-game series in Ogden, Utah against Weber State (May 1-2).
 
The 2021 Big Sky Softball Championship will be held May 13-15 in Ogden. The top four teams in the standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the double-elimination tournament. The tournament champion will earn the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

 
RETURNERS

Despite the loss of a handful of key players last season, Portland State will return a core group of upperclassmen. The returning group consists of eight seniors, three of those taking advantage of their fifth-year of eligibility. "To have Katie Schroeder, Tayler Gunesch and Marissa Bruno returning this season is a gift," McWhorter said.  "They weren't supposed to be here, but that is one of the few positives of all we have endured." 
 
McWhorter has high expectations for her fourth- and fifth-year players.  
 
"This group of seniors is special. We expect them to lead by example, with empathy, with love and with passion." McWhorter continued, "We've endured a lot in the last ten months, and as different and challenging as these times are, I can't think of better people to be our seniors."
 

IN THE CIRCLE

Returning to the pitching staff are veterans Katie Schroder, Haley Schimmel, and Serafine Parrish alongside underclassman, Marisol Gaona, and Olivia Grey.
 
Grey will return to the circle for the Vikings after leading the team in strikeouts last year, recording 58 in 54.1 innings pitched. Gaona appeared in four games in her debut season with the Vikings, recording 4.2 total innings pitched. Parrish, Schoreder, and Schimmel will look to make a statement in the coming months, coming off 15 combined starts in 2020.
 

INFIELD AND OUTFIELD

Redshirt senior Marissa Bruno will return for her fifth year as a Viking. A threat at the top of the lineup, Bruno led PSU with a .384 batting average in 2020 and will return to her starting role in the outfield this season alongside fellow senior, Tayler Gunesch.
 
Redshirt freshman Emily Johansen will step back on the diamond after making a name for herself during the shortened 2020 season. The Tualatin, Ore. native slammed a team-high eight home runs and a .288 batting average to kick off her collegiate career.
 
Two-time All-Conference selection, Rachel Menlove will take charge behind the plate for the fourth-straight season. Menlove recorded 94 putouts last year, throwing out nine runners while recording eight hits.
 

NEWCOMERS

The Vikings roster will feature nine true freshmen, many of which will see action in their first year playing under McWhorter.
 
"Our newcomers will absolutely step in and make an immediate impact, they already have," said McWhorter. "This is a very talented group that has already made our program better.  They are coachable, eager to learn and hungry to compete."
 
The loss of Darian Lindsey last year has freed up the middle infield spot for the Vikings this season, resulting in a tight competition and a tough decision for McWhorter and her staff.
 
"We have three newcomers and a returner competing for the roles of middle infield and they push each other daily," McWhorter said.
 
Alexa Cepeda, Bailey Rose, Julia Perkins, Paetynn Lopez, Allicitie Frost, Mariah Rodriguez, Shea Garcia, Maddie Thompson, and Logan Riggenbach will all look to make an impact in their opening seasons with PSU.
 
As for McWhorter and her staff, they are itching to get back on the field with nothing but high hopes for their 2021 squad.
 
"Our team has been so dialed in since we've gotten the opportunity to be on campus and practice," McWhorter said. "This is a very talented team, all the way through the roster. My hope for this team is that we leave it all out on the field. We get to play softball, and we don't take that for granted. We are focused, we are hungry to compete, but more than anything, we are grateful to be together and play the game we love."
 
The Vikings will open play In Phoenix, Ariz. in a doubleheader against Iowa State and Grand Canyon on Feb. 26.