Viks seek to conquer D-I

PSU’s close to clinching playoff berth

By Jason Vondersmith

The Portland Tribune, May 5, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

A new coaching staff, a new hitting style and newfound winning ways have Portland State on the path to something new Ñthe NCAA Division I playoffs.

The Vikings (34-14) could clinch the Pacific Coast Softball Conference title this weekend at Sacramento State and earn the school’s first Division I playoff berth. For Portland State, a pillar of the Division II ranks in the 1990s, it would be the first winning season since moving up in class in 1999.

A playoff berth could mean that the Vikings compete in the NCAA regionals at Oregon State. They deserve to be on the same field as the No. 5-ranked Beavers, having split a doubleheader with OSU this year. They also swept Oregon on Wednesday, 4-0 and 3-2.

Believing they belong among the top D-I teams has been half the battle, PSU coach Amy Hayes says.

“We’re making a better name for ourselves,” she says. “The key is making sure it’s not a one-year thing.”

“The coaching staff has changed our attitude here,” pitcher Michelle Hext says. “They tell us, ‘You are Division I, you’re capable of winning championships and going to regionals.’

“We’ve always had the talent, but maybe never the attitude.”

The Vikings, who started 0-5, have set a school home-run record (45). They also sport the highest average (.274) and run total (218) since moving to Division I.

Hayes, who turns 36 on May 19, replaced Teri Mariani as coach and immediately set out to improve PSU’s hitting. She hired two assistants, Brooke Monroe and Traci Feldt, both 25 and former college players. Hayes put Monroe in charge of the hitters, and “there’s no way we’d be here without her,” the head coach says.

Throughout last summer and fall, Monroe drilled Viking batters on the more progressive style of hitting, more like a baseball swing.

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