Bertrand named Pitcher of the Week

Freshman pitcher Anna Bertrand earned the Pacific Coast Softball Conference's Mountain Division Pitcher of the Week honor for the second time this season, according to a statement released today by the league.

Bertrand pitched 13 innings over the weekend, and contributed to Portland State's four-game sweep over Northern Colorado to open conference play. She recorded 20 strikeouts, including a career-high 12 in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, and is the only pitcher in the PCSC to have triple-digit strikeout numbers (123). Bertrand also leads the league with a 1.92 ERA.

Portland State is 14–21 on the season and 4–0 in conference play. Bertrand's is the seventh weekly honor for a Viking this season.

Play ball!

Somebody buy this kid a tall glass of milk.

Women prepare for NCAA action

SEATTLE—They may only be 180 miles away from their home court at the Stott Center, but the Portland State women’s basketball team is a long way from home at the NCAA Tournament.

The team makes its debut appearance in the Division I-level tournament later tonight at the University of Washington’s Bank of America Arena, but has been in Seattle since Thursday in preparation for the milestone event.

Yesterday was the team’s media day and featured open and closed practices, player and coach interviews and a press conference in front of the NCAA banner.

“It’s surreal,” said junior guard-forward Kelly Marchant, describing the atmosphere of the tournament.

For Portland State, the road to the March Madness in Seattle began in Cheney, Wash., exactly one week ago. It was there that the Vikings claimed the Big Sky Tournament title with a victory over Montana State, and with it the conference’s automatic entry into the NCAA Tournament.

As the fifth seed in the six-team tournament, the Vikings were underdogs then and remain the underdogs today when they face ninth-ranked Texas A&M.


“It’s just exciting to have another week to play, and staying alive another week,” said senior guard Claire Faucher. “Having this opportunity and knowing that we are the obvious underdogs and playing with the mentality that we have nothing to lose here.”

“We did not just come all this way to say we went to the tournament. We are here now and we want to make some noise, and not only represent Portland State, but represent the Big Sky (Conference),” she said.

Tip-off for No. 15 Portland State versus No. 2 Texas A&M in round one of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship is scheduled for 5:06 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

—All photos by Aaron Leopold, Daily Vanguard

Start your own Rec Club

Have you been sitting around thinking PSU is seriously lacking a lawn dart collective? Do you and your friends want to start a pinochle club? Would you like to form your very own football squad and challenge the PSU football team to a pickup game?

If any of the above is true, or if you just want to start your own rec club, you are in luck.

Campus Rec is now accepting applications for new student clubs for the 2010-11 academic year. The process is fairly simple, and all the information can be found here.

Don't sit on your keister and let this opportunity pass you by—applications must be turned in by April 9.

The road to San Antonio begins in Seattle

The brackets are set for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, and in their first-ever trip to the Big Dance, Portland State is starting local.

The Vikings begin the tournament in Seattle as the No. 15 seed in the Sacramento Region, and are set to face No. 2 Texas A&M at 5:06 p.m. on Saturday at UW's Bank of America Arena. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Portland State (18–14) is making its first appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament after earning the Big Sky Conference's automatic bid with Saturday's win over Montana State in the championship game of the conference tournament.

This year marks the fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament for Texas A&M (25–7). They won the Big 12 Conference Tournament for the second time in three years with a win over Oklahoma on Sunday.

A printable PDF of the complete tournament seeding is available here.

Women clinch Big Sky title

PSU defeats Montana State in Big Sky Championship

The Portland State women’s basketball team is the newly crowned champion of the Big Sky Conference.

The Vikings defeated Montana State, 62–58, yesterday in Cheney, Wash., to win their first-ever Big Sky title, and with it the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Women’s Tournament.

Saturday saw several firsts. In addition to setting up PSU’s first NCAA Tournament appearance, it was the first time in Big Sky history that two quarterfinalists met in the championship game, and as the No. 5 seed, the Vikings became the lowest seeded team to ever win the conference tournament.

Photo courtesy Portland State Athletics Department

 

“We did it the hard way, but we did it,” head coach Sherri Murrell said in a television interview after the game.

Not only will her team be competing in the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time, but this will also mark Murrell’s first time in the Big Dance.

“To be a part of history is something very special. It means a lot to the players who have battled hard,” she said. “It took me 20 years of my career to do it, so I’m pretty happy.”

Senior guard Claire Faucher, the Tournament MVP, broke the conference and school records in both three-pointers attempted and three-pointers made when she shot 8 for 16 from behind the arc.

Let the postseason begin

The Portland State men's basketball team just began their quarterfinal game of the Big Sky Tournament against Montana State, and there are three ways to catch the postseason action. The game can be followed via live stats, audio or video.

Will PSU make it to the semifinals? Follow the game to find out.

Portland State, BABIP and ISO

by James MacKenzie
Vanguard staff

A quick introduction: I'm James MacKenzie and I write for the sports section in the Vanguard. This is what I hope to be the first in a running series of posts that will analyze the Portland State softball team through sabermetric analysis, a field in which softball is sorely lacking.

Sabermetrics are so absent from softball, that when you type it into Google it asks, "did you mean: football sabermetrics?" Which is a pity, because really, doesn't softball in all of its similarity to baseball, deserve to be picked apart, scrutinized and analyzed with every stupid number one can throw at it in the same way that baseball is? I would answer that it does and that's the aim here. 

I would, however, like to add the caveat that since sabermetrics are absent from softball in most available statistical archives, I have derived most of the statistics used here from my own work provided by the raw statistics available at goviks.com. That being said, I'd like to say that I am an amateur statistician at best and as always when you read things on the internet, take it with a grain a salt.

Through twelve games, it's safe to say that Portland State's offensive production has been nothing short of putrid. The raw slash line of .212/.290/.260 is rough, as is the .550 OPS it amounts too. Portland State ranks second to last in batting average and slugging in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference ahead of only Santa Clara and ranks third to last in on-base percentage. Quite simply, the Vikings aren't hitting.

Vikings football names D-line coach

The Portland State Athletics Department announced today that Legi Suiaunoa will join the PSU football team. Including the addition of Suiaunoa, first-year head coach Nigel Burton has now added 10 assistants to his staff.

A complete breakdown of the coaching roster and the press release in its entirety is included after the jump.

Death reported at Olympic Games

The opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics has not yet taken place, and the BBC reports there has already been a death at the games.

Nodar Kumaritashvili, a 21-year old member of the Georgian luge team, died today during a training run at Whistler Sliding Centre in Vancouver, Canada. Apparently he crashed his sled during one of the turns and hit an unpadded steel pole.

The Olympic Games officially begin tonight, and competition in the men's luge is scheduled to begin tomorrow. Whether that schedule will be affected has not been determined.

Riding in style

Feel like taking a quaint bike ride this Saturday? Why not join dozens of others at the Skidmore Fountain at 11 a.m. for the First annual Tweed Ride. The ten mile ride will have a few planned stops, including sipping tea, and ending with a picnic with your fellow riders. Lets just hope for some sun!

–Wendy Shortman

Portland Mercury to co-sponsor benefit concert for Haiti

I think it goes without saying that we are all devasted by the recent event in Haiti. There have been many recent efforts internationally and nationally to bring help to the people of this country (despite some hateful words from some). Locally, there has also been a lot going on in the way of charity. One of my favorite, and recently announced events is being co-sponsored by the Portland Mercury:

"The Mercury is co-sponsoring a just-announced benefit show this Thursday, January 21. The show, co-produced by former Merc arts writer Stephen Marc Beaudoin, aims to raise upward of $25,000 for Mercy Corps' relief efforts in Haiti.

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, January 21, 2010, 7:30 pm at the Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie, Portland.
Call 503-234-9694 for more information. Tickets go on sale 10 am Tuesday, January 19
WHO: Featured artists include pianist Thomas Lauderdale (of Pink Martini), hip-hop artist Cool Nutz, Portland Cello Project, Grammy-nominated pianist Janice Scroggins, Oregon Symphony concertmaster Jun Iwasaki, singer-songwriter Holcombe Waller and the legendary Storm Large, among others.

TICKETS: $30, all seats (general admission). Call 503-234-9694 or go to aladdin-theater.com for more information — tickets go on sale 10 am Tuesday, January 19."

Not only is this line up amazing, but the money is going to a great cause. I would highly suggest sucking it up and forking over $30 for what promises to be a very enjoyable evening with a seriously powerful message.

A serious bummer

2010 has claimed its first celebrity (though this time it's someone I'm actually sad about). As my friend Nick put it in a facebook post: "r.i.p. jay reatard. may you punch people out for unplugging your guitar in heaven." He and his music will be missed.

Here's his video for "It Ain't Gonna Save Me." This may be a somber day, but that's all the more reason to enjoy his awesomely upbeat music:

Lindsay Lohan continues to be a complete moron

So apparently Lindsay Lohan filmed a documentary about human trafficking in India. I seriously thought this was a joke when I first heard about it, but apparently it actually happened. As proof of this, here's a lovely little snippet from the film. In this one minute video, we're treated to some of the most vapid and obvious observations on the state of human trafficking I have ever heard. Lind
You can thank the Superficial for the 200 brain cells you just lost watching that video.

Islands "No You Don't"

I'm not really into Islands and Michael Cera is just kind of played out at this point, but this video is kind of entrtaining: