It is the aspiration of every team, regardless of sport, to be in control of their own destiny in regards to their postseason chances. The good teams, however, are the squads that consistently take advantage of those opportunities and claim what they feel is rightfully theirs.
The women’s softball team heads into their final weekend of play—a four-game weekend series at Loyola Marymount—with just that: a chance to earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament, should the Vikings manage to at least split the series with the Lions.
Although the conference has not been as strong from top-to-bottom this year as in years past, the Vikings have taken advantage of a solid pitching rotation and a powerful hitting lineup to maintain first-place bragging rights the majority of the season.
The Vikings have five players hitting with an average over .290 and starting pitchers Tori Rogers and Nichole Latham have combined for a 24-16 record and a 2.35 earned runs average. Meanwhile a remarkable eight Portland State players have hit at least one homerun already this year.
The conference will be totally revamped for 2010 as new members, Weber State, Utah Valley, Northern Colorado, Seattle, Idaho State and Cal State Bakersfield, will join the six current members and the league will split into two divisions, Coastal and Mountain.
But for now, Portland State can claim their second PCSC title in four years by taking down Loyola Marymount. The Lions are currently third in the conference but have always been one of the stronger teams.