PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland State softball team will play two games in Eugene and three games in Corvallis at the UO/OSU Invitational this weekend.

The Vikings (11-7) will play North Dakota State and No. 11 Oregon on Friday in Eugene before finishing the weekend in Corvallis with a doubleheader against Oregon State on Saturday, followed by a single game against NDSU on Sunday. Live streams of both Friday and Saturday's games will be available on the PAC 12 Plus Network.
 

UO/OSU INVITE SCHEDULE

Game 1: vs. NDSU – March 11 (11 a.m.) | Live Stats | Live Stream

Game 2: vs. #11 Oregon – March 11 (4 p.m.) | Live Stats | Live Stream

Game 3: vs. Oregon State – March 12 (1 p.m.) | Live Stats | Live Stream

Game 4: vs. Oregon State – March 12 (3:30 p.m.) | Live Stats | Live Stream

Game 5: vs. NDSU – March 13 (11 a.m.) | Live Stats

TICKET INFORMATION

For Friday's doubleheader at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene, $10 reserved tickets are available in the main seating area. $7 General admission seating is located in the outfield bleachers. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or in advance at goducks.com

All seating is general admission for Saturday's doubleheader at Kelly Field in Corvallis. Tickets for the doubleheader are $6 for adults and $4 for youth and seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or in advance at osubeavers.com.

HISTORY AGAINST OPPONENTS

North Dakota State: The Bison lead the all-time series 3-2. They've earned three consecutive wins over the Vikings, the most recent victory coming in the last meeting in 2019, 2-1.  

No. 11 Oregon: In a series dating back to 1977, the Ducks lead the Vikings 119-49-1. The Viking's last win over the Ducks was in Eugene in 2010 (4-1). The teams played twice in 2021, and Oregon won both 4-2 and 16-0 (5 Inn.).

Oregon State: The Beavers hold a 95-35-1 series lead over PSU heading into Saturday's doubleheader. The program's last met in a doubleheader in 2019 when OSU won both by scores of 4-2 and 8-0 (6 Inn.). The last time the Vikings topped the Beavers was in 2015, 9-1 in five innings.

ROSTER RUNDOWN

Despite losing a handful of upperclassmen in 2021, the Vikings return 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.

LAST TIME OUT: ROBERT MORRIS SERIES

Portland State improved to 11-7 on the season after going 2-1 against Robert Morris last weekend. The Colonials entered the weekend at 9-1 before dropping to 10-3 overall. After splitting the doubleheader on Friday, the Vikings clinched the rubber match victory on Saturday with a 4-0 shutout win to end the weekend.

STRONG START

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

PSU began its 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 

Portland State has earned three Player of the Week honors so far this season. 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). PSU starting pitcher Olivia Grey picked up back-to-back Pitcher of the week honors after going 5-0 during the opening two weeks.  

LEADING THE BIG SKY 

The Vikings lead the Big Sky in on-base percentage (.394) and stolen bases (28). Maddie Thompson leads the conference in stolen bases with 12.

Defensively, PSU leads the Big Sky with a .977 fielding percentage, recording eleven errorless games this season.

OWNING THE CIRCLE

Olivia Grey, who led the Vikings to a Big Sky Championship last season, picked up right where she left off in 2021. Grey holds an 8-1 record in the circle, tossing seven complete games, including two shutouts, while holding her opponents to a .188 average at the plate. The Woodland, Wash. native leads the Big Sky with a 1.25 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 61.2 innings of work.  

Grey matched her career-high eleven strikeouts in a one-hit shutout performance against Nicholls State on Feb. 26. She notched 19 strikeouts while allowing just nine hits in 14 innings against Robert Morris last weekend.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

After going 6-for-10 at the plate last weekend, Paetynn Lopez leads the Vikings with a .364 batting average. Her four home runs this season ranks fourth in the Big Sky.

Olivia Dean and Maddie Thompson lead the Vikings with 18 hits each while Dean, Lopez and Kiara McCrea have a team-high 12 RBIs.