PORTLAND, Ore. – In its second tournament of the 2023 season, the Portland State softball team will play five games over three days at the Littlewood Classic in Phoenix, Ariz. this weekend.
 
The Vikings will take on BYU and No. 22/RV Arizona State on Friday, followed by a Saturday doubleheader against Oregon State and Grand Canyon. PSU will close out the weekend with a single game on Sunday against DePaul.  
 
TOURNAMENT NOTES: Littlewood Classic – Feb. 17-19
Littlewood Classic (Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium/GCU Softball Stadium)
 
Tournament Page | Tickets
 
GAME #1
BYU (2-2) vs. Portland State (2-3)
Friday, Feb 17 | 11am PT/12pm MT
Tempe, Ariz. (Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium – ASU)
All-Time Series: BYU leads, 8-3
Last Meeting: March 2, 2018 (L 11-2 (5))
Live Stats

GAME #2
Portland State (2-3) vs. No. 22/RV Arizona State (4-1)
Friday, Feb. 17 | 4:00pm PT/ 5:00pm MT
Tempe, Ariz. (Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium – ASU)
All-Time Series: ASU leads, 16-0
Last Meeting: Feb 18, 2022 (L, 9-1 (5))
Live Stats | Live Stream
 
GAME #3
Portland State (2-3) vs. Oregon State (2-3)
Saturday, Feb. 18 | 10am PT/11am MT
Phoenix, Ariz. (GCU Softball Stadium)
All-Time Series: OSU leads, 96-36-1 
Last Meeting: March 12, 2022 – Doubleheader (W, 6-1 – L, 9-0 (5))
Live Stats

GAME #4
Portland State (2-3) vs. Grand Canyon (5-0)
Saturday, Feb. 18 | 3pm PT/4pm MT
Phoenix, Ariz. (GCU Softball Stadium)
All-Time Series: Tied, 1-1
Last Meeting: Feb. 26, 2021 (W, 5-4)
Live Stats | Live Stream

GAME #5
DePaul (4-0) vs. Portland State (2-3)
Sunday, Feb. 19 | 8am PT/9am MT
Phoenix, Ariz. (GCU Softball Stadium)
All-Time Series: DePaul leads, 4-1
Last Meeting: March 9, 2018 (L, 6-0)
Live Stats

OPENING WEEKEND - THE SPRING GAMES 

The Vikings opened the season going 2-3 at The Spring Games in Leesburg, Fla. After an impressive season opening run-rule win over Colgate (8-0), the Vikings dropped their next two games 8-1 to both Marshall and Minnesota. PSU battled its way to the first extra inning victory of the season over Butler 6-4 in eight innings, before closing out the weekend with a 9-1 loss to Michigan.

The Vikings struggled to find their groove offensively, hitting .195 over the weekend. After hitting a home run in her first at-bat of the season, Logan Riggenbach continued to show consistency at the plate, going 5-for-15 (.333), with five RBI. Junior Alexa Cepeda also hit .333 on the weekend, going 4-for-12 at the dish. 

DEALING IN THE CIRCLE

Senior Olivia Grey had a stellar weekend in the circle at The Spring Games, picking up right where she left off in 2022. The Woodland, Wash. native pitched 16.1 innings without allowing a single earned run. Compiling a 2-1 record, Grey picked up a shutout win over Colgate to open the season, followed by a win over Butler. She finished the weekend holding Michigan to just one hit through five innings in the Vikings' 9-1 loss to the Wolverines. 

CHASING 100 WINS

Seventh-year head coach Meadow McWhorter is 98-165 during her career at Portland State, entering the weekend just two wins away from her 100^th victory. McWhorter would become just the third softball coach in Portland State history to reach the 100-win mark.

2023 ROSTER BREAKDOWN

The Vikings' roster features 16 returners from last year's squad, including five all-conference selections: First team catcher Paetynn Lopez, first team pitcher Olivia Grey and first team outfielder Logan Riggenbach, second team shortstop Olivia Dean and Honorable Mention selection Emily Johansen. The roster features four newcomers, including three freshmen (Alison Harris, Trinity Holden and Sherreigh Nakoa-Chung) and junior transfer Bailee Noland.
 

VIKINGS' 2023 SCHEDULE

The Vikings' 2023 schedule consists of 44 regular season contests, four non-conference tournaments, 15 Big Sky matchups and 13 home games at Gordon Faber Field. The Vikings will open the season with four-straight road tournaments, playing 20 games over 24 days. Among those 24 games, four will be against teams ranked in the NFCA Preseason Top 25. The Vikings will open their Big Sky schedule at home on Saturday, April 1-2 against Montana. The regular-season slate will come to a close on April 28-29 at Northern Colorado. The Big Sky Championship tournament will take place from May 10-13 in Ogden, Utah.
 

2023 BIG SKY PRESEASON POLL

The Vikings were picked third in the Big Sky Preseason Poll released on Jan. 31. Weber State and Sacramento State topped the polls with 21 points each, while the Vikings followed with 20. The Defending Big Sky Champion, Weber State received three first-place votes, Sacramento State received two and the Vikings earned one. Montana (12), Idaho State (11), and Northern Colorado (5) rounded out the poll.
 

2022 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Vikings finished 2022 with a 28-18 record, the winningest season since 2011
• PSU went 10-5 in Big Sky action, finishing third in the Big Sky tournament as the No. 3 seed
• Six Vikings earned all-conference honors, including first team selections Olivia Grey, Paetynn Lopez and Logan Riggenbach
• Riggenbach (third team outfield) and Grey (second team pitcher) were NFCA All-Pacific Region selections

2022 STAT LEADERS

• Grey returns for her fourth season after finishing 2022 with an 18-8 (.692) record in the circle, the second-highest single-season win percentage in program history. She held opponents to a .203 average and led the Big Sky in strikeouts (214), which ranked 31^st in the nation
• Riggenbach had a stellar season in 2022, leading the Vikings with a .380 batting average and 41 RBI. She recorded 82 putouts and 0 errors, finishing the year with a 1.000 fielding percentage
• Senior first baseman Emily Johansen led the Vikings in home runs (9) and on base percentage (.482) a season ago, hitting .615 with eight RBI at the 2022 Big Sky Tournament
•  Dean had a team-high 20 stolen bases in 2022, ranking first in the Big Sky