Softball wants sweep, not split

The Portland State women’s softball team hosts the Seattle Redhawks for a pair of double-headers this weekend. The Vikings are currently in first place in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference, Mountain Division, and sit at 8-4 conference and 18-17 overall. Last weekend the team split both their double-headers against Northern Colorado, and also split one double-header the weekend prior to Idaho State. Head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk said although the team is finding success, their goal is to sweep, not split, the upcoming games against Seattle University.

“We have high expectations, especially in-conference,” Echo-Hawk said. “Every weekend we go out, we’re expecting to sweep the series and come out on top. If we keep going 3-1, it doesn’t put us in a very good position to win the conference, and we expect and want to win [the conference].”

The Vikings struggled earlier to find offensive success and relied heavily on pitcher Anna Bertrand to keep their opponents’ runs down. Last weekend they found their offensive groove against the Northern Colorado Bears.

On Friday it was the junior duo of Sadie Lopez and Carly McEachran that gave the Vikings the offensive push. Lopez registered a home run and four RBIs, with McEachran tallying two runs scored and a run driven in. On Saturday, freshman Alicia Fine had a breakout career performance, hitting a walk-off grand slam with a perfect 5-for-5 hits at bat.

Bertrand said the week of practice between the Idaho State—where the Vikings left a combined 20 runners on base in the opening double-header—and Northern Colorado games was all about offense.

“We were just working on putting ourselves in [aggressive] situations,” Bertrand said. “We were working on situational hitting, especially when you have a runner on second and one out and making that count.”

While Bertrand continues to be a key defensive threat for the Vikings, freshman relief pitcher Raya Johnson has seen more time on the mound.

“They work well together, they celebrate each other’s successes,” Echo-Hawk said. “Raya has learned so much from Anna [and] having [Anna] talk to her about hitters and situations in the dugout is great. I see Raya’s confidence building and I have to, in part, attribute that to Anna’s mentoring of her.”

Although Bertrand struggled slightly in the last game against Northern Colorado—when she registered her first game without a strikeout—the junior has consistently performed at a high level for the Vikings. She has already claimed six PCSC Mountain Division Player of the Week titles, most recently for the week following the Idaho State games.

The Vikings will need Bertrand, Johnson and their offense working together in their upcoming game against Seattle University. Seattle sits at third place in the Mountain Division at 7-5 in conference and 14-21 overall.

“Our conference has gotten better overall,” Echo-Hawk said. “I think this year, as far as our division is concerned, it’s anybody’s race. Right now, it’s important we play at our top level in every game.”

The Seattle Redhawks come into the game off a 3-1 weekend versus conference competitor Utah Valley. The Redhawks swept the opening series but fell in the first game the following day 2-1.

The Redhawks have a deep pitching roster with three pitchers who see significant playing time. A different pitcher earned each of the three wins last weekend. Seattle has sophomore Richelle Ashburn, freshman Mandie Sugita and junior Jessica Ulrich in the circle. The three have been starters in nearly the same amount of games and all three have roughly the same number of games won and lost.

The Seattle offense is lead by Sarah Petosa and Kaydi Kochi—Petosa with a .348 batting average and Kochi a .333. Last weekend, however, pitcher and first baseman Sugita earned a crucial grand slam in game one on day two.

With only this weekend’s games at home and one more weekend at home at the end of the month, the Vikings need to make the best of the short time they have left on their home field. Bertrand said that while she and Johnson will be focusing on limiting the opponents’ runs and halting the success of lead-off hitters, the team’s goal remains offense.

“Our goal is mainly just scoring runners and being able to produce at-bat,” Bertrand said.

The Vikings take on Seattle this Friday and Saturday at Erv Lind Stadium. Both days are double-headers beginning at noon.