SEATTLE – (March 15) Seattle University softball hosts Portland State and Bryant for the 2018 Seattle U Invitational, as Logan Field will host eight games from March 16-18.
FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS
- Friday, March 16 at 1:30 p.m.
- Portland State vs. Bryant
- Stats
- Saturday, March 17 at 12 p.m.
- Portland State vs. Bryant
- Stats
ABOUT THE GAMES
- Seattle U (14-12) vs. Portland State (4-15)
- All-time series-Portland State leads, 24-7
- Home-Portland State leads, 6-2
- Away-Portland State leads, 16-3
- Neutral-Series is tied, 2-2
- Last meeting-Portland State won, 2-1, in Las Vegas (March 22, 2016)
- Seattle U (14-12) vs. Bryant (4-11)
- All-time series-First-ever meeting
- Home-N/A
- Away-N/A
- Neutral-N/A
- Last meeting-N/A
NEWS AND NOTES
- Seattle U dropped three of four outings at the CSUN Invitational last weekend. It beat CSUN, 4-1, on March 11, as Andie Larkins threw a complete game to lift the Redhawks. Madison Cathcart homered to break a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning.
- Madison Cathcart hit four home runs last week and has hit 14 in 2018, most in the nation. The sophomore also leads Division I in slugging percentage (1.164) and total bases (85) this year.
- For the period ending March 11, Madison Cathcart was named WAC Hitter of the Week. The first baseman hit .500 in six games, claiming her second weekly conference honors of the season.
- Madison Cathcart hit a walk-off grand slam to lift Seattle U to a 7-4 win over Toledo on March 6. The sophomore capped a standout day with his national-high 12th home run of the season.
- In the doubleheader, Cathcart went 4-4 with two home runs, two doubles, and three walks.
- SU swept the Rockets, 6-4 and 7-4, in the 2018 home opener at Logan Field.
- The Redhawks won twice at the Red Desert Classic March 2-4, beating Southern Utah and Montana. Madison Cathcart hit three home runs on the weekend, batting .588 with seven RBIs.
- Shianne Smith won WAC Pitcher of the Week honors after recording a 0.54 ERA in five relief appearances at the Red Desert Classic. Smith threw 13 innings and allowed one earned run, striking out nine batters.
- For a third straight weekend to open 2018, the Redhawks went 3-2, this time at the Libby Matson Tournament. They defeated Northern Colorado, Nevada, and Pacific in the event, hosted by Pacific from Feb. 22-24.
- Carley Nance was terrific at the Libby Matson Tournament, winning twice and throwing a pair of complete games. In a 3-1 win at Pacific, the redshirt freshman went seven innings, allowing six hits and one run. She struck five and walked none in the victory.
- Among WAC pitchers, Nance leads the league in wins (8) and strikeouts (78).
- SU won three of its five contests at the Marucci Desert Classic from Feb. 15-17. Its six wins are the most by any WAC program this season.
- Madison Cathcart was chosen WAC Hitter of the Week after batting .412 with two home runs and two doubles in Las Vegas. The sophomore ranks second nationally with six homers in 2018.
- The Redhawks beat Utah State and Hawai’i on the first day of the Marucci Desert Classic. Susanne Morris hit a three-run home run to spark a rally against USU and then Andie Larkins and Carley Nance combined to blank Hawai’i over the final six innings of a 4-2 win.
- Despite a seven-run rally against San Jose State on Feb. 17, SU fell, 10-8, to the Spartans. Later in the day, the Redhawks beat Nevada, 2-1, as Maddy Kristjanson hit a sacrifice fly to score Kaylee Ree for a walk-off victory. Seattle U won despite claiming just one hit in the contest.
- Seattle U went 3-2 at the Kajikawa Classic on opening weekend. It marked the best start by the Redhawks since 2013.
- SU beat Stanford, 13-9, on Feb. 9, as the Redhawks rallied with a nine-run fifth inning. Kaylee Ree hit a grand slam to highlight the action. The victory is SU’s third-ever over a Pac-12 program.
- On Feb. 10, Seattle U won a pair of marathon extra-inning games. It beat CSUN, 6-4 in eight innings, on Susanne Morris’ two-run walk-off home run. The Redhawks followed with a come-from-behind 11-8 win over Western Michigan. The 10-inning contest took nearly four hours as SU rallied from a 7-3 deficit in the seventh inning. Sara Dominguez hit a tying home run to force extra innings. In the 10th inning, Ally Choate drove in Alyson Matriotti for the go-ahead run and then Madison Cathcart blasted a two-run homer to make it 11-8.
- SU’s two losses both came by a single run, as Notre Dame (4-3) and Nebraska (3-2) narrowly pulled out wins.
- Coach Geoff Hirai begins his third season at the Redhawks’ head coach. He took SU to its first-ever WAC Championship Game appearance in 2017.
- The Redhawks were picked to finish third in the 2018 WAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Grand Canyon and defending champion New Mexico State were voted to take first and second, respectively.
- Andie Larkins is the WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. The junior earned All-WAC Second Team and WAC All-Tournament honors last season. She is the first Redhawk to win a major WAC preseason award.
- Sophomores Alyson Matriotti and Madison Cathcart return following All-WAC performances in 2017. Matriotti earned All-WAC First Team after hitting .419 in conference games as a freshman. The third baseman tallied 11 stolen bases in 12 tries on the year. Cathcart was an All-WAC Second Team choice, having led SU in RBIs (40) while starting all 52 games at first base.
- Andie Larkins and Kaylee Ree were both named All-WAC Preseason in February. Larkins set six Division I program records last season. Ree led the team with a .508 on-base percentage in WAC action. She started all 52 games at second base in 2017.
- SU features eight newcomers this season, with six true freshmen, one redshirt freshman, and one junior transfer joining the roster.
- In 2017, SU won 20 games and tied for third in the WAC regular season standings. It then won its first two games at the WAC Championship and advanced to its first-ever WAC Championship Game.
- Portland State lost three contests at the UNLV Rebel Classic last weekend and then had four straight games canceled due to rain. Riley Casper leads the team with a .342 batting average, while Kaela Morrow has hit five home runs in 2018.
- Bryant has lost six straight outings entering the weekend. It lost, 7-0, to top-ranked Washington on Wednesday. Morgan Powell has a .313 batting average to pace the Bulldogs’ offense.