PORTLAND, Ore. – Twenty games into the season, Portland State softball finally takes the field at home this Tuesday, March 11, hosting No. 9 Florida State in a doubleheader to open its 2025 home slate at Hillsboro Stadium.

The Vikings (4-16) and Seminoles (20-5) will face off at 2:00 and 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The doubleheader will stream live on ESPN+, with live stats also available (links below).

As part of the 2025 Viking softball fan promotional schedule, the first 50 fans at Tuesday's doubleheader will receive a Viking scarf. Free coffee will also be available for those in attendance.

---

PORTLAND STATE SOFTBALL GAME NOTES // WEEK 6

SCOUTING THE NOLES
Florida State enters Tuesday with a 20-5 record, ranking ninth in the latest national polls. The Noles are coming off a 2-2 weekend, picking up two wins over Oregon State while falling twice to No. 12 Oregon. Offensively, they rank in the top 10 nationally in several categories, including batting average (.374), on-base percentage (.467), RBIs per game (8.10), total runs (180), triples (14), and slugging percentage (.658).

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. FLORIDA STATE
The Vikings and Seminoles have faced off just twice in program history, both meetings coming in 2018. Florida State holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series after earning a pair of run-rule victories that year, winning 18-1 and 11-1 at a neutral site.

LAST TIME OUT - OREGON CLASSIC
Before their bye weekend, the Vikings played five games at the Oregon Classic in Eugene (Feb. 28–March 2), finishing 1-4. They opened the tournament with an 11-7 comeback win over Loyola Chicago before dropping their next four games to No. 14 Oregon, San Diego, and Loyola Chicago. The Vikings closed out the weekend with back-to-back close losses, falling 3-2 to Loyola Chicago and 6-4 to San Diego.

RANKED OPPONENTS
No. 9 Florida State will be the third ranked opponent and fifth Power Four opponent the Vikings have faced this season. Portland State took on then-No. 20 Stanford in week two, falling 16-5 in five innings, and faced No. 12 Oregon in their last weekend of action, losing 9-1 in six innings. They also played Grand Canyon, which has received votes in the latest national polls. The Vikings' last win over a ranked opponent came in 2022 when they defeated No. 24 Oregon State 6-1 in Corvallis.

AT THE PLATE

• The Vikings posted a .216 team batting average at the Oregon Classic, boosting their overall season average to .204, a five-point improvement.
• Freshman Nichole Orozco led the Vikings at the Oregon Classic, going 4-for-10 (.400) and tying for the team high with three RBIs across five games.
• After only eight at-bats in the first three weeks of the season, pitcher Sherreigh Nakoa-Chung had 13 at-bats at the Oregon Classic, recording four hits for a .308 average, including one double and two RBIs.
• Senior Neveah Smith leads the Vikings with a .339 batting average entering the weekend, along with a team-high 20 hits and a .385 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.
• Senior Natalia Martinez leads the team with 12 RBIs, closely followed by Ellie Babbitt and Lorraine Alo, who each have ten. Both Babbitt and Martinez have recorded six of their RBIs with two outs in the inning.

ACTIVE STREAKS

• Reached Base: N. Smith (5), E. Babbitt (6) N. Orozco (4)
• Hitting Streaks: N. Orozco (4), S. Nakoa-Chung (2)

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 52.1 innings across 12 appearances and 10 starts, compiling a team-best 4.01 ERA and the second most strikeouts in the Big Sky, with 33 

GRACE KIMBALL NAMED PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Grace Kimball was named the Big Sky's Co-Pitcher of the Week following an impressive weekend at the Cardinal Classic (Feb. 14-16). 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 of the tournament, 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 nod was the second Big Sky Pitcher of the Week honor of her career. 

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 141-230 (.380) overall record into the weekend
• She's 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

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