PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland State softball team will host Southern Utah this weekend in its second consecutive Big Sky home series. The series will open with a doubleheader on Friday at Hillsboro Stadium (11:30 & 2:00 p.m.) and close with a single game on Saturday at Gordon Faber Field 4 (11:30 a.m.).

Due to the venue change, Friday's games will not be live-streamed. The series finale will be broadcast live on ESPN+ on Saturday. Live stats will be available for all three games at goviks.com.

Following a thrilling win in the Viking's series finale against Northern Colorado last weekend, Portland State heads into the weekend with a 21-14 overall record and 5-4 mark in Big Sky action.

LAST TIME OUT

Portland State clinched its second conference series at home last weekend, winning two of its three games against the Bears. Following a 6-3 loss in the opener, the Vikings won 6-1 in game two before winning 4-3 in eight innings in the series finale. Over the weekend, the Viking's offense totaled 13 runs on 27 hits, including four home runs.

KEYS TO VICTORY

The Vikings are...

16-1 when holding their opponents to less than three runs
19-3 when surrendering four runs or less  
15-3 when they score the first run of the game
9-2 when they score in the first inning
16-1 when leading after four innings

SPEED ON THE BASE PATHS

PSU continues to lead the Big Sky with 47 stolen bases, with eight of those coming against conference opponents. Maddie Thompson ranks second in the conference with 15, while Olivia Dean ranks third with 14. The Vikings have recorded at least one stolen base in 10 of their last 13 games.

REACHED BASE STREAKS

Olivia Dean (nine games)
Shea Garcia (seven games)
Natalia Martinez (five games)

HITTING STREAKS 

Logan Riggenbach, Emily Johansen, and Shea Garcia are all riding three-game hit streaks entering the weekend.

RIGGENBACH ON A ROLL

Sophomore outfielder Logan Riggenbach leads the Vikings in four offensive categories (hits, doubles, RBIs, and total bases). She enters the series with a team-high .360 batting average, ranking sixth in the Big Sky. This past weekend, she went 6-for-12 at the plate (.500), knocking two home runs, including a walk-off shot in the bottom of the eighth in game three. Riggenbach is hitting .500 against conference opponents and has recorded a multi-hit game in six Big Sky games. 

LONG BALL LOPEZ

Sophomore catcher, Paetynn Lopez, leads the Vikings with seven home runs, which ranks sixth in the Big Sky. In the Viking's 13-9 win over Sacramento State on April 1, she notched a career-high four hits.

MARTINEZ MAKING HER MARK

Martinez is hitting .444 since Big Sky play began three weeks ago. She's totaled eight hits, five RBIs and one home run for a slugging percentage of .667.

FROST CAN DO IT ALL

In both the circle and at the plate, sophomore pitcher Allicitie Frost had a stellar weekend against UNC. On Friday, she led PSU to a 6-1 win over the Bears, limiting their offense to just six hits and one earned run. On Saturday, Frost knocked a pinch-hit, game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings in her first at-bat of the season. 

OWNING THE CIRCLE

Olivia Grey improved to 13-5 in the circle last weekend. She's tossed 14 complete games, including three shutouts, while holding her opponents to a .196 average at the plate. She leads the Big Sky with a 1.66 ERA and 167 strikeouts, ranking 20th in the country.

Grey had a career performance against North Dakota State on March 11, striking out a career-high fifteen batters while pitching nine shutout innings.

CHASING HISTORY

Averaging 8.97 strikeouts per game, Grey has a chance to break the program's Division I era single-season strikeout record by the end of the season. Anna Bertrand holds the current record at 229. Grey currently ranks eleventh in the record book with 167.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Olivia Grey – Grey picked up back-to-back Pitcher of the week honors after going 5-0 during the opening two weeks of the season. She picked up her third weekly honor after leading the Vikings to a pair of wins at the UO/OSU Invitational three weekends ago. 

Maddie Thompson – Thompson earned the first Player of the Week nod of her career during week one after hitting .619 and leading the nation in hits (13) at the Lynn Russell Miller Classic.

Logan Riggenbach – Riggenbach notched her first Player of the Week honor two weeks ago after hitting .714 over four games, leading the Vikings to a 3-1 record against Warner Pacific and Montana.

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 14 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.
 

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.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN UTAH

Despite reaching the Big Sky Championship game a year ago, the Thunderbirds are 3-29 this season. Sitting at 0-9 in Big Sky action, SUU has lost three consecutive conference series to Northern Colorado, Montana and Weber State. Their last win was on March 13 at home against the University of Maine (6-2). The Thunderbirds rank last in the conference with a .203 team batting average and a 11.78 team ERA. 

Portland State leads the all-time series 27-17 after playing the Thunderbirds five times in 2021. The Vikings dropped their regular-season series against SUU 2-1, before posting back-to-back wins against the Thunderbirds in the Big Sky Championship Tournament, including an 8-1 win in the Championship game on May 15.