After spending much of the non-conference half of the season on the road, Portland State softball opens its Pacific Coast Softball Conference schedule at home this weekend.
Portland State hosts the Utah Valley Wolverines in a pair of afternoon doubleheaders at Erv Lind Stadium on Saturday and Sunday in Northeast Portland. The four-game slate is set to pit the early leaders of the PCSC’s Mountain Division against each other, as the division-leading Vikings (12-12) take on the second-ranked Wolverines (7-18).
The Vikings look to put an end to a four-game losing skid—PSU’s longest of the season. The streak began when PSU dropped two games at Oregon State on March 22 and continued with twin losses to No. 15 Oregon the following day in the Vikings’ home opener.
But that was over two weeks ago, and the Vikings now enter league play as a rested team.
Portland State leads the overall series with Utah Valley, 5-2, but that’s not to say this weekend will be a breeze for Portland’s girls in green. Last season, PSU’s only conference losses during the regular season came against the Wolverines. The Vikings—who went 18-2 in league play on their way to a Mountain Division title and entry into the PCSC Championship Series—dropped two of four games to the Wolverines in Orem, Utah.
This weekend, Utah Valley enters Erv Lind Stadium riding a four-game losing streak of its own. The Wolverines most recently lost to in-state rival Utah on Tuesday, after losing all three contests of their own UVU Invitational.
Though they enter the weekend on the wrong side of a streak, the Wolverines bring with them the division’s Pitchers of the Week for the last three weeks. Senior righty Kyli Flanary earned last week’s selection and freshman righty Josi Summers took the honor each of the two weeks before that.
Summers (5-10) leads Utah Valley with a 4.85 ERA and 53 strikeouts over 78 innings pitched. Flanary (2-8) holds a 6.15 ERA with 34 strikeouts over 82 innings, and is no easy out at the plate herself; she comes into this weekend on a three-game hitting streak. Summers and Flanary have combined to hold their opponents to a .311 batting average.
Utah Valley’s threat from the pitching circle should not be intimidating to the Vikings though, as PSU has pitching power of its own. Sophomore righty Anna Bertrand and senior righty Nichole Latham combined to sweep the first four Pitcher of the Week honors of the season. Bertrand got the division’s nod for her performance in the opening week and Latham nearly became a de facto slinger of the month when she was selected for each of the following three weeks.
Latham (7-6) currently leads the PCSC with her 1.83 ERA over 84 1/3 innings of work. She has 43 strikeouts this season and has held her opponents to a .258 batting average. Latham’s 360 career strikeouts places her in the seventh spot in the PCSC’s all-time record book.
Bertrand (5-6) leads the league with 82 strikeouts and a .233 opposing batting average over 74 1/3 innings. In just one-and-a-half seasons, Bertrand has recorded 300 career strikeouts, placing her in the sixth spot in PSU’s all-time record book and 10th in the PCSC.
Latham and Bertrand have combined for a division-best 2.65 ERA and a conference-best .246 opponents’ batting average.
This weekend will prove to be more than just a pitcher’s duel as neither the Vikings nor the Wolverines are slouches at the plate. Utah Valley is hitting .271 as a team and Portland State has a .268 batting average.
Junior catcher Lacey Holm leads Portland State’s offense with a .397 batting average, 21 RBIs and three home runs. The Vikings are also seeing reliable results from leadoff hitter Jenna Krogh, who is batting .364 with four stolen bases. The junior outfielder held a team-high 10-game hitting streak from Feb. 12–27—a streak that still registers as the third longest in the PCSC this season.
Senior shortstop Arielle Wiser, meanwhile, is batting .286 and is just four runs away from scoring her 100th run. Wiser, who was the 2008 Freshman of the Year, will be just the 12th player in PCSC history to eclipse the 100-run mark.
The Wolverine offense is largely led by senior shortstop Samantha Telarroja and senior outfielder Meghan Yocum, who were named the division’s Players of the Week on March 21 and 28, respectively. Yocum is hitting a league-leading .431 and has nine RBIs and four home runs. She enters this weekend with an eight-game hitting streak—the longest active streak in PCSC
Junior infielder Amanda Perez is hitting .366 for the Wolverines and leads the pack with six home runs and 25 RBIs.
First pitch is set for noon on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday at Erv Lind Stadium, located in Normandale Park near the intersection of Northeast 57th Avenue and Northeast Hassalo Street. The second game of each doubleheader is scheduled to begin approximately 30 minutes after the first game ends.
Live audio and stats will be available through GoViks.com for all four of this weekend’s games, with former PSU coach Teri Mariani calling the play-by-play action. ?