PORTLAND – The Portland State softball team will take on Sacramento State in its final home series of the season this weekend. The three-game series will begin with a doubleheader on Friday (1:00 p.m.) before coming to a close with a single game at noon on Saturday.
 
PSU will celebrate nine seniors thirty minutes prior to game one on Friday. All three games will be held at Gordon Faber Recreation Complex - field 4 where a maximum of 250 fans will be allowed in the outfield. For those unable to attend, the series will be broadcasted live on Pluto TV.

LAST TIME OUT
The Vikings will enter Friday coming off an exciting game three victory against Idaho State last Saturday. After cruising to an 8-0 win in game one of the series, PSU found themselves in a rubber match on Saturday following a nine inning 3-2 loss in game two.
Paetynn Lopez was the hero in the series finale as she led the Vikings to a come-from-behind 8-4 victory after notching a grand slam to clinch PSU's first Big Sky series win of the season.  

OFFENSIVE LEADERS 
After a hot weekend at the plate, Olivia Dean now leads the Vikings offense with a .383 batting average (31-81). Leading the pack with a .647 slugging percentage, Rachel Menlove also has a team-best 22 RBI and 55 total bases.

HOT STREAK
With eight players hitting above the .300 mark, the Vikings are hold an impressive .359 average in conference action and .317 overall. Dean (.457), Lopez (4.17) and Marissa Bruno (.408) are leading the way for the Vikings in Big Sky play.
Over the past two series Portland State has tallied an astounding 72 hits for a team batting average of .385. The Potent offense has knocked 10 doubles, three home runs and scored 45 runs over the past six games.

IN THE CIRCLE 
Olivia Grey has seemingly found her groove in the circle for the Vikings as she has recorded complete game victories in back-to-back weekends. The redshirt freshman struck out seven batters and allowed just six hits en route to a game three victory over Southern Utah two weekends ago. Grey did the same in a dominant 8-0 win over Idaho State last Friday, allowing just two hits in a five-inning complete game shutout performance.  

ERRORLESS BALL
The Vikings have recorded just two errors over the past two series as they played perfect defense against Idaho State this past weekend, making several noteworthy plays and suffering zero errors.
 
BIG SKY LEADERBOARD

• PSU leads the Big Sky in two offensive categories – batting average (.317) and stolen bases (41)
• Bruno (14) and Maddie Thompson (13) rank first and second in stolen bases while Dean is fourth (7) 
• Dean's .383 average at the plate is the second highest in the conference while Bruno sits at third (.377)
• The Vikings rank second with a .963 fielding percentage
• The PSU pitching staff has tallied 150 strikeouts through 29 games, ranking second in the Big Sky behind Montana

BY THE NUMBERS – SEASON TOTALS
Team Batting Average: .317 (252-795) – Up three percent from last week
 Opponent Batting Average: .319 (247-775) – Down 13 percent from last week
 Errors/Fielding Percentage: 27 (.963) – Up five percent from last week
 ERA/Strikeouts/Walks: 8.29 ERA, 150 strikeouts, 101 walks

SENIOR DAY
Nine seniors will play in their final game at Gordon Faber this weekend. Due to the possibility of rain on Saturday, the Vikings moved the senior ceremony to Friday at 12:30.  

Taking advantage of their fifth year of eligibility, Tayler Gunesch, Katie Schroeder and Marissa Bruno will be the oldest of the senior class honored on Friday. In addition to the trio, Hannah Bell, Natalie Munson, Ariana Abalos, Haley Schimmel, Ashlyn Monroe and Rachel Menlove will also be recognized.

SACRAMENTO STATE
Sacramento State will enter Friday with a 12-18 overall record. The Hornets are 6-3 in conference action after falling in three-straight games to Weber State their last time out. Before dropping its first Big Sky series of the season, Sacramento State earned a pair of sweeps over Northern Colorado and Montana to open Conference action. The Hornets rank last in the Big Sky in batting average (.226) but hold the second-best team ERA at 4.48.

SERIES HISTORY
Portland State trails the all-time series against the Hornets 52-24. The Vikings have notched just one win in the last six meetings.