PORTLAND, Ore. –  Coming off a mid-week doubleheader against 10th-ranked Florida State, the Portland State softball team is headed to California this weekend for a five-game slate at the Golden Coast Classic, hosted by Saint Mary's and Santa Clara.

The Vikings will play doubleheaders in Santa Clara on Friday and Saturday, facing Harvard, Columbia, and two games against Santa Clara. They'll close out the weekend with a single game in Moraga, Calif., at Saint Mary's.

Three of the five games will stream live on ESPN+: Friday and Saturday's games against Santa Clara, and Sunday's contest against the Gaels, with live stats available for all five.

---

PORTLAND STATE SOFTBALL GAME NOTES // WEEK 6
-----------------

» Game 1: Portland State (4-18) vs. Harvard (5-4) - 12:00 PM 
» Game 2: Portland State at Santa Clara (12-9) - 2:30 PM - ESPN+
Saturday, March 15 - Santa Clara, CA (Santa Clara Softball Field)                 
» Game 3: Portland State vs. Columbia (4-6) - 11:00 AM 
» Game 4: Portland State at Santa Clara - 4:00 PM - ESPN+
Sunday, March 16 - Moraga, CA (Cottrell Field)                                                         
» Game 5: Portland State at Saint Mary's (10-13) - 11:30 AM - ESPN+

HISTORY VS. OPPONENTS
vs. HARVARD –– All-Time series: Crimson lead, 4-2; Last meeting: March 10, 2007 (L, 6-5 - 9inn); Streak: L1
vs. SANTA CLARA –– All-Time series: Viks lead, 30-8; Last meeting: Feb. 16, 2024 (L 5-3); Streak: L1
vs. COLUMBIA –– First-ever meeting 
vs. SAINT MARY'S –– All-Time series: Viks lead, 34-20; Last meeting: March 15, 2015 (L, 2-1) Streak: L2

LAST TIME OUT - Doubleheader vs. No. 10 Florida State

• The Vikings dropped both games of their home-opening doubleheader on Tuesday, March 11, against No. 10 Florida State. Despite final scores of 11-0 (6 inn.) and 18-5, the Vikings were trailing by only five runs heading into the sixth inning of both games but were unable to hold off late rallies from the Seminoles.

AT THE PLATE

• Senior Neveah Smith leads the Vikings with a .303 batting average entering the weekend, along with a team-high 20 hits and a .347 on-base percentage. She opened the season with a career-best performance at the La Jolla Invitational, batting .667 with a .692 on-base percentage and recording at least one hit in every game. At the Cardinal Classic, Smith tied for the team lead with a .412 average (7-for-17), highlighted by a career-best 4-for-4 performance against UC Riverside. She has also delivered a team-high five multi-hit games this season. 
• Senior Natalia Martinez leads the team with 13 RBIs, recording at least one RBI in nearly half of the Vikings' games this season (10).
• Following closely behind Martinez are Lorraine Alo, who ranks second on the team in RBIs with 11, and Ellie Babbitt, who ranks third with 10. Both Babbitt and Alo have recorded four-RBI games this season, with Babbitt doing so against #20 Stanford a few weekends ago.
• Freshman Gracie Toney hit the Vikings' first pinch-hit home run since the 2022 season on Tuesday, doing so against the 10th-ranked Florida State Seminoles. The three-run homer was the first of Toney's collegiate career, occurring in just her 16th at-bat of the season. 
• Freshman Nichole Orozco led the Vikings at the Oregon Classic two weekend's ago, going 4-for-10 (.400) and tying for the team-high with three RBIs across five games.
• Active Reached Base Streaks (2+ games): L. Alo (3 games); G. Johnson (2 games)
• Active Hitting Streaks (2+ games): G. Johnson (2 games)

IN THE CIRCLE

• Grace Kimball (2), Sherreigh Nakoa-Chung (1) and Annie Lemos (1) each have wins in the circle for the Vikings
• Kimball has pitched a team-high 55 innings across 13 appearances and 11 starts, compiling a team-best 4.33 ERA. She entered the week with the second-most strikeouts in the Big SKy (33), before tacking on one more against FSU on Tuesday.

GRACE KIMBALL'S PITCHER OF THE WEEK HONOR

• Grace Kimball was named the Big Sky's Co-Pitcher of the Week following an impressive weekend at the Cardinal Classic last month.
• She pitched two complete games, totaling 15 innings while shutting out her opponents in 13 of them. She held UC Davis and UC Riverside to a .207 batting average, yielding just two earned runs for a 0.93 ERA on the weekend. On the final day, she threw nine innings against the Highlanders—eight of them scoreless—allowing just five hits and no earned runs.
• She finished the weekend with eight strikeouts, just three walks, and only three extra-base hits allowed. The honor was the second Big Sky Pitcher of the Week honor of her career. 

RANKED OPPONENTS 

• The Vikings have played three opponents ranked in the Top 25 this season and five schools in power four conferences
• They hosted #10 Florida State for their home-opening doubleheader at Hillsboro Stadium (March 11), dropping both games to the Noles, 11-0 (6 inn.) and 18-5
• Portland State took on then-No. 20 Stanford in week two, falling 16-5 in five innings, and faced No. 12 Oregon on Feb. 28, losing 9-1 in six innings. 
• The Vikings also played Grand Canyon (L, 9-0 in 5 inn.), a team that's received votes in the national polls several weeks this season
• The Vikings' last win over a ranked opponent came in 2022 when they defeated No. 24 Oregon State 6-1 in Corvallis.

THE VIKINGS' 2025 ROSTER

• The Vikings return 12 players from last year's team that went 23-24 overall, 6-8 in Big Sky play, and finished as the Big Sky Tournament runner-up
• Three returners earned all-conference honors (Lorraine Alo, Grace Kimball, Natalia Martinez), while all four 2024 Big Sky All-Tournament selections (Alo, Martinez, Kimball, Ellie Babbitt) are back
• The roster includes 11 newcomers: eight freshmen and three transfers
• Freshmen: RHP Delaney Hoyle, C Kendall Nevin, C Scarlett McEwen, C Samiya Wright, OF Gracie Toney, OF Nichole Orozco, OF Elise Sanchez, MIF Rylee Gaustad
• Transfers: LHP Sophia Guerra (CSU Bakersfield, Guatemala), RHP Anna Jardin (Rhode Island, Wilsonville, Ore.), C Abby Carsley (Kansas, McMinnville, Ore.) –will redshirt this season.

ALL ABOUT ALO

• As a freshman in 2024, designated hitter Lorraine Alo had one of the best offensive seasons in program history and the second-best ever in the Big Sky Conference
• She set a single-season program record with a .440 batting average, ranking eighth in the nation, going 55-for-125 with 11 doubles, one triple, five home runs, and 32 RBI. She also set a program record with a .517 on-base percentage
• She dominated the Big Sky Tournament, hitting .632 (12-for-19) over six games with two home runs, four RBI, and a .708 on-base percentage
• Alo became the first player in program history to be named Big Sky Freshman of the Year, earning first-team utility honors
• Additionally, she was named second-team All-Pacific Region by the NFCA and became the program's first-ever freshman to be a TUCCI/NFCA DI National Freshman of the Year Finalist (Top 25)

KIMBALLEN

• A transfer from Boise State, Kimball led the Vikings in the circle in her first season at Portland State in 2024. As a redshirt junior for PSU, she went 15-10 overall and 6-2 in Big Sky play, throwing 153.2 innings
• She posted a 3.42 ERA for the season, with a 2.30 ERA in Big Sky regular season play. She pitched 14 complete games, including four shutouts, while holding opponents to a .256 average with 128 strikeouts
• She had a dominant Big Sky Tournament run, tossing 35 innings over four days with a 3-1 record, three complete games, and 30 strikeouts to lead the Vikings to a runner-up finish
• Kimball was named Big Sky Newcomer of the Year and earned second-team all-conference honors

MEADOW MCWHORTER'S SUCCESS

• Viking Head Coach Meadow McWhorter is in her ninth season at Portland State, carrying a 141-232 (.378) overall record into the weekend
• She's just seven wins away from surpassing former PSU head coach Tobin-Hawk Creek's 147 wins, which would make her the second-winningest coach in program history
• She's led the Vikings to a 57-63 (.475) Big Sky record and four straight top-three finishes in the conference tournament, including a title in 2021, third-place finishes in 2022 and 2023, and a runner-up finish in 2024
• McWhorter has coached 24 first- and second-team All-Big Sky selections, four individual award winners (including 2023 BSC Player of the Year Emily Johansen), four All-Pacific Region honorees, and 15 Big Sky All-Tournament selections

 A LOOK AT THE VIKINGS' 2025 SCHEDULE

• The Vikings have 50 games scheduled for the regular season, with 17 at home, 33 on the road, 35 non-conference games, and 15 Big Sky contests
• They'll compete in five non-conference tournaments, four of them consecutively in February, totaling 20 games in 24 days
• Tournament schedule: La Jolla Invitational (Feb. 7-9), Cardinal Classic (Feb. 14-16), ASU/GCU Invite (Feb. 21-23), University of Oregon Invitational (Feb. 28-March 1), and Santa Clara/St. Mary's Invitational (March 14-16)
• Their non-conference schedule includes seven Power Four opponents, three of which finished in last year's final top 25 poll