Broncos to Face Portland State and No. 6/6 Oregon in Eugene

Boise State Vs. Portland State and No. 6/6 Oregon
Eugene, Ore. (Jane Sanders Stadium)

Saturday, March 6

GAME 11: Boise State (3-7) vs. Portland State (1-4) | 12 p.m. MT | Live Scoring
GAME 12: Boise State (3-7) at Oregon (8-1) | 5 p.m. MT | PAC-12 Network | Live Scoring

Sunday, March 7

GAME 11: Boise State (3-7) vs. Portland State (1-4) | 11 a.m. MT | Live Scoring
GAME 12: Boise State (3-7) at Oregon (8-1) | 1:30 p.m. MT | PAC-12 Network | Live Scoring

FOLLOW THE BRONCOS: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Roster | Stats

THIS WEEK FOR THE BRONCOS

WHAT IS NEXT: Boise State (3-7) heads to Eugene, Ore., this weekend to face the Portland State Vikings and No. 6/6 Oregon Ducks twice each. The action was originally scheduled to begin on Friday, but due to weather concerns the schedule was adjusted to a Saturday and Sunday format.

Boise State opens Saturday with Portland State at 12 p.m. (Mountain), followed by Oregon at 5 p.m. (MT) at Jane Sanders Stadium. The action will continue with two more on Sunday with the Broncos taking on Portland State at 11 a.m. (MT) and Oregon at 1:30 p.m. (MT).

FOLLOW THE ACTION: The games against Oregon will be televised by the PAC-12 Network, while the Portland State contests will not be streamed. However, all four games will feature live scoring. Fans can find all the links to follow the action by going to the softball schedule on BroncoSports.com.

BOISE STATE VERSUS THE FIELD: The Broncos have faced both teams previously and are a combined 8-13 versus the Vikings and Ducks. Boise State has not played Portland State since March 27, 2018 when they swept a doubleheader from the Vikings and lead the overall series 8-5. Meanwhile, the Broncos have never defeated Oregon in eight previous encounters, the last time was Feb. 9, 2014, when the Ducks won 9-0 in five innings.

SCOUTING PORTLAND STATE: The Vikings enter the weekend at 1-4 overall with a win over Grand Canyon (W 5-4) to their credit and four losses to top-25 ranked teams in then-ranked No. 25 Iowa State twice, No. 13 Arizona State and No. 2 Oklahoma. Portland State returns 15 letterwinners from its 2020 squad that held a 6-18 record when the season was halted in mid-March. Portland State also added nine freshmen to the 2021 lineup. The Big Sky coaches picked the Mustangs to place fourth out of seven teams in the 2021 league race.

SCOUTING OREGON: The Ducks enter the weekend at 8-1 overall and ranked sixth nationally in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN/USA Softball polls. They are coming off their first loss of the season against top-ranked UCLA (L 9-3) on Monday (March 1), preceded by a pair of wins over No. 1 UCLA (3-1) and Utah (W 7-2) on Sunday (Feb. 28). Oregon returns 21 letterwinners from 2020 when the Ducks went 22-2 overall. Oregon was picked to place fifth in the 2021 PAC-12 title race.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE: Boise State went 1-4 in southern California last weekend splitting a doubleheader versus Cal Poly at Fullerton (Feb. 26), then lost three at Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 27-28). The Broncos return seven position starters and two pitchers from the 2020 campaign that saw the Broncos go 14-11. In addition, they welcomed back 13 veterans while adding two transfers and eight freshmen. Among the returners are two All-Mountain West honorees in Karlee Johnson and Alison Seng. This year's Boise State team was picked to place fourth out of nine teams in the 2021 league race.

WHY THE NEW GAMES: Boise State was originally scheduled to have the weekend of Feb. 26-28 off, but because of bad weather in the Midwest the previous week (Feb. 19-21) forced the Broncos to cancel a trip to the Cowgirl Classic at McNeese State in Lake Charles, La. The five games at Fullerton, Calif., were added to make up for the lost contests.

ABOUT THE BRONCOS

HEAD COACH HUFFAKER: Boise State is in its third season under the guidance of Maggie Huffaker who has recorded a 53-34 overall record with the Broncos. Some of Huffaker's accomplishments at Boise State include: one NCAA Regional appearance and one NCAA regional championship appearance; two winning seasons; student-athletes have earned three NFCA All-Region honors and eight All-MW accolades. Academically, her team has earned one NFCA Academic Team Award, nine NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete accolades, 29 Academic All-MW and 20 MW Scholar-Athlete (3.5 or better cumulative GPA) honors.

BRONCO LEADERS: Kelsey Lalor is hitting a team-high .333 with 10 hits, four runs, three home runs and six RBI. Ashlyn Adams is hitting .323 with 10 hits, two runs and three RBI. Bella Rocco is hitting .280 with seven hits and three RBI. Hannah Bailey leads the pitching staff with a 3.06 ERA.

ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST HONOREES BACK: Leading the team this year are two 2020 All-MW honorees in Karlee Johnson and Alison Seng. The duo started all 25 games in 2020 combining for 52 hits, 24 runs, 29 RBI and three home runs. Defensively, they combined for 205 putouts.

WHAT IS BACK: Boise State returned 13 members of the 2020 squad, including seven starters and two pitchers. Starters back include: short stop Karlee Johnson (25 hits, 11 runs, 2 home runs, 16 RBI), first baseman Alison Seng (27 hits, 13 runs, 1 home run, 13 RBI), outfielder Ashlyn Adams (23 hits, 17 runs, 2 home runs, 13 RBI), catcher Serena Huchingson (18 hits, 11 runs, 2 home runs, 14 RBI), outfielder Kelsey Lalor (19 hits, 16 runs, 4 home runs, 14 RBI), second baseman Autumn Bennett (16 hits, 13 runs, 1 home run, 5 RBI) and third baseman/designated player Bella Rocco (16 hits, 4 runs, 2 home runs, 14 RBI).

PITCHERS BACK: Hannah Bailey is the leading pitcher back from 2020. She pitched in 42.1 innings in 13 appearances with an ERA of 4.46, 26 strikeouts and eight walks. Jordan Schuring also returns after seeing limited time in 2020.

NATIONALLY RANKED RECRUITING CLASS: This year's freshmen class was ranked 27th nationally by Extra Inning Softball. In all, Boise State added two transfers and eight freshmen to the core group of veterans. The transfers include pitchers Sara Johnson (Towson) and Kiele Miller (Creighton).