Viking_Yearbook_93

T eriMariani’s I7th season as head coach of the Portland State softball team won’t go down in the record books as one of her best. It will certainly go down as one of the wettest, though. A total of 22 games were cancele due to rain during the season, making precipitation the biggest nemesis to the Vikings during 1993. Rain was the rea­ son Portland State completed only 34 games (23-11 season ledger and ranked seventh in the country), 20 less than they played a year ago. The rain had nothing to do with the postseason, however, where the Vikings were ousted from the West Regional playoffs, losing first to Humboldt State, 3-2 and finally to UC- Davis, 4-2. Nothing leading up to the playoffs Hgnaled what was to happen to tii Vikings when they arrived at the pi offs. In fact, both losses and the early exit from the postseason were hard Mariam and her players to swallow. For someone who has seen it all in her’^1 1? years at the helm, she had a difficult time believing her 1993 team > second season so quickly, i “I was just as disappointed players],” Mariani said., “I never thought we’d have lost two strai| games. That really surprised me.”' What didn’t surprise Mariani was the effort the Vikings put out during continued on nett pa#e