Going north on I-5

The Portland State softball team heads north for the first time this year to play four games at the Husky Softball Classic in Seattle, Wash., starting Friday. 

The Vikings, who will miss the big bat of senior second baseman Becca Diede, look to continue improving on an offense that started the season cold as ice, but has heated up in recent weeks. Portland State is 6–11 and has yet to play a Pacific Coast Softball Conference opponent.

The Vikings were poised to make some noise at the Eller Media Stadium Tournament last weekend, taking two in a row against Southern Utah and UNLV before losing the last three games. With Becca Diede out, along with her seven doubles and .929 OPS, the Vikings will look to find the offense in other places.

The first place to look will be senior catcher Brandi Scoggins. After batting .667 (12 for 18) in last week’s tournament, Scoggins earned the PCSC Mountain Division Player of the Week honor for her three doubles and five RBIs. She is also on an eight game hitting streak.

Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk will be looking for consistency from her entire lineup this weekend. The Vikings’ bats have turned around since a poor offensive performance at the Kajikawa Classic, and Echo-Hawk wants to see her team convert some of the hits that have been falling more regularly into runs.

The name of the game is consistency, and that is what Echo-Hawk is looking for from a team that has improved from tournament to tournament. 

“We’ve come to the conclusion that we’re just not a power hitting team, and that’s not our game plan,” Echo-Hawk said. “We’re just going to get runners on and move them around and not live and die by the long ball.”

Portland State plays four games over the weekend. They take on Miami University (Ohio) twice and face the defending national champion Washington Huskies. The Vikings will also get an opportunity to play a new conference opponent when they wrap up the tournament on Sunday against new PCSC member Seattle University. 

Despite the gravity of playing a defending national champion in the Huskies, Echo-Hawk said the team will not be intimidated.

“We have nothing to lose and we just [have] to focus on ourselves and not put too much into who we’re playing and what it says across their chest. It’s just another game and we’re going to approach it like any other one,” she said. 

PSU’s Husky Softball Classic schedule
Fri,
3:30 p.m.   
vs. Miami (Ohio) (5–7) ?
Sat,
10:30 a.m.   
vs. Miami (Ohio) (5–7) ?
3:30 p.m.   
at No. 1 Washington (17–1) ?
Sun,
10:30 a.m.   
vs. Seattle (1–13)