PORTLAND, Ore. – After a break from action this past weekend, the Portland State softball team will take on Warner Pacific at Erv Lind Stadium on Wednesday at 1 p.m.

The Vikings will enter the contest at 15-10 overall after claiming a pair of victories over Corban last Wednesday. 

TICKET INFORMATION

Fans will be able to attend at no capacity limit, and general admission is $5 per person at the gate.

For those who can't attend, Live Stats and Video will also be provided. 

LAST TIME OUT  

Last Wednesday, the Vikings pitching staff combined for back-to-back shutouts against Corban, coming away with 6-0 and 3-0 wins. The Viking's offense totaled eight hits during the doubleheader.

NEXT UP: BIG SKY OPENER

Wednesday's game marks the Viking's final non-conference matchup before opening Big Sky play at Montana this weekend. They'll take on the Grizzlies in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 26, before capping the series with a single game on Sunday, March 27.  

ROSTER RUNDOWN

Despite losing a handful of upperclassmen in 2021, the Vikings returned a core group of starters from a year ago. Honorable Mention All-Big Sky selections Olivia Grey, Emily Johansen, Maddie Thompson, Olivia Dean, and Paetynn Lopez are among the returners.

The roster features seven new faces, including six freshmen. Playing the final season of her career at Portland State is senior catcher Jenny Marnin, a transfer from Southwest Oregon Community College. Marnin is the Vikings' lone senior in 2022. Freshmen outfielders Neveah Smith (Medford, Ore.), Kiara McCrea (Hillsboro, Ore.), and Grace Johnson (Roseville, Calif.), infielders Ellie Babbitt (Albany, Ore.), Natalia Martinez (Salinas, Calif.), and pitcher Annie Lemos (Roseville, Calif.) are making their collegiate debuts this season.

PRESEASON POLL

The Vikings were picked second in the 2022 Big Sky Preseason Coaches Poll released on Jan. 31. Totaling 28 points and two first-place votes, PSU was chosen below defending regular-season Champion Weber State, who received 34 points and four first-place votes.

STRONG START

Sixth-year head coach Meadow McWhorter and the Vikings are off to the program's best start since 2011.

The Vikings began the 2022 campaign outscoring its opponents 48-13 at the Lynn Russell Miller Classic in Riverside, Calif. The 48 runs were the most to start a season in program history. They hit .387 over three days, totaling 58 hits and 70 total bases en route to a 4-1 start.

The following weekend, the Vikings claimed their first win over a Pac-12 opponent since 2015 with a dominant 7-1 victory over Cal at the Littlewood Classic in Tempe, Ariz.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

This season, Portland State has earned four Player of the Week honors, three of those awarded to starting Pitcher, Olivia Grey. Following the Lynn Russell Miller Classic, Maddie Thompson picked up the first Player of the Week nod of her career after hitting .619 and leading the nation in hits (13). Grey picked up back-to-back Pitcher of the week honors after going 5-0 during the opening two weeks. Last week, she added another to her list of accolades after a pair of wins at the UO/OSU Invitational.

SPEED ON THE BASE PATHS

The Vikings lead the Big Sky in stolen bases with 36. Maddie Thompson is tied for the most in the conference with 14, while Olivia Dean ranks third with 11.  

SOLID DEFENSE

PSU leads the Big Sky with a .981 fielding percentage, ranking eighth in the nation. The defense has recorded sixteen errorless games this season, doing so in six of their last eight games.

OWNING THE CIRCLE

Olivia Grey holds an 11-1 record in the circle, tossing nine complete games, including three shutouts while holding her opponents to a .195 average at the plate. The Woodland, Wash. native leads the Big Sky with a 1.23 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 85.1 innings of work. 

Grey had a career performance against North Dakota State on March 11. She struck out a career-high fifteen batters while pitching nine shutout innings. She followed that up with another complete-game performance on March 12 against No. 23/24 Oregon State, allowing six hits and one earned run.  

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

Emily Johansen leads the Viking's offense with a .313 batting average. The Junior enters Wednesday riding a five-game hit streak while recording a hit in eight of her last thirteen at-bats.

Paetynn Lopez has five home runs on the year, leading the offense with a .600 slugging percentage, which ranks fifth in the Big Sky.

SCOUTING WARNER PACIFIC

The Knights are 2-18 on the season coming off five consecutive losses. Their last win came on March 12, when they defeated Corban 5-4. They earned their only other win against Lewis & Clark on Feb. 12 (10-2). Alexandra Flores leads WPU in her second year at the helm.

Wednesday will be the first meeting between the teams since 1992 as PSU leads the series 6-0.