PORTLAND, Ore. – Following its best non-conference start since 2006, the Portland State softball team is ready to begin Big Sky action in a three-game series against Montana. The Vikings will begin the weekend in Missoula with a doubleheader starting at noon PT on Saturday, followed by a single game at 11 a.m. PT on Sunday.

After three shutouts in a row, the Vikings enter the weekend with a 16-10 record, while Montana is 12-14.

All three games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ in addition to live stats. || Click here for links

LAST TIME OUT

The Vikings picked up their third five-inning rule victory of the season on Wednesday as they cruised to an 8-0 win over Warner Pacific. PSU tallied seven hits in the contest, while the pitching staff combined for a three-hit shutout.  

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.

RANKED OPPONENTS

Four of the Viking's ten losses have come against ranked opponents this season (No. 24 Arizona State, No. 20 Louisiana, No.11 Oregon, and No.24 Oregon State). On March 12, the Vikings ended an eleven-year drought, beating No. 24/23 Oregon State 6-1 to clinch the program's first victory over a ranked opponent since 2011.

THE REAL DEAL

The Viking's 16-10 non-conference record marks their best start since 2006. the Vikings proved they're the real deal early on, going 2-4 against Pac-12 opponents. On Feb, 18, the Vikings topped Cal 7-1 at the Littlewood Classic in Tempe, Ariz, the program's first win over a Pac-12 opponent since 2015. The Vikings took the No.24/23 Beavers by storm a few weeks later, winning 6-1 in Corvallis. They're just the fifth team in Division I program history to beat two Pac-12 opponents in a single season; the last team to do it was in 2008.

STRONG START

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.

SHUTOUT QUEENS

The Vikings have posted three-straight shutouts, the first Portland State team to do so since 2011. With a pair of wins over Corban and a victory over Warner Pacific, the Viking pitching staff allowed just eight hits and recorded 21 strikeouts as a unit. All four pitchers made at least one appearance in the three games.

SPEED ON THE BASE PATHS

The Vikings lead the Big Sky in stolen bases with 40. Maddie Thompson ranks second in the conference with 14. Olivia Dean ranks third with 12 on the year.

SOLID DEFENSE

PSU leads the Big Sky with a .980 fielding percentage, tied for tenth in the nation. The defense has recorded sixteen errorless games this season, doing so in six of their last nine games.

OWNING THE CIRCLE

Olivia Grey holds a 12-1 record in the circle, tossing nine complete games, including three complete-game shutouts while holding her opponents to a .189 average at the plate. The Woodland, Wash. native leads the Big Sky with a 1.20 ERA and 116 strikeouts, which ranks 20^th in the country.
 
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

Paetynn Lopez leads the offense with a .306 batting average. The sophomore is rolling on a three-game hit streak after going 3-8 in the last three outings. She leads the team with five home runs and a .597 slugging percentage.

Lopez and Emily Johansen rank first on the team with 16 RBIs. Johansen ranks fourth in the Big Sky with a .451 on-base percentage after drawing 14 weeks so far this season. The junior has reached base in seven consecutive games, the longest individual hitting streak of the season for Portland State.

SCOUTING MONTANA

Montana was picked fifth in the Big Sky Preseason Poll after reaching the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament in 2021. The Grizzlies enter Saturday at 12-14 overall, riding a three-game win streak with wins over Providence and Seattle. The Grizzlies are hitting .266 as a team. Freshman outfielder Presley Jantzi leads the way with a .362 batting average. Allie Brock leads the pitching staff with a 7-8 record with a 3.97 ERA. Montana is led by fifth-year head coach Melanie Meuchel.

The Vikings kicked off conference play against Montana a year ago. The Grizzlies took care of business at Gordon Faber Field, sweeping PSU in three straight with 2-1, 10-1 and 9-8 wins. The victories improved their series lead to 16-5 over PSU. The Vikings haven't won a game over Montana since 2018, when the Vikings took the series 2-1.