Viking_Yearbook_95

Stormy Season Coach Teri Mariani's 400th career victory highlighted what was otherwise a soggy season for the Vikings' softball team. Mariani became the seventh active Division 11 coach to reach the 400-win plateau when PSU beat Cal State-Stanislaus on March 31. The Vikings finished the year 19-8, and Mariani's career record became 418-288 in 19 seasons. PSU's win-loss record was impressive, but there's no telling how impressive it might have been, if the weather had cooperated. The Vikings played 27 games since the notoriously soggy season of 1983 and had 26 games rained out. Although Mariani had a strong, playoff-caliber team, the Vikings never had enough opportunities against the rest of the West Region to solidify a playoff berth. PSU did have some highlights between rain showers. As a team, the Vikings hit .310, breaking the previous school record of .308, set by the Final Four team of 1991. Six players batted .300 or better. Leading the way was senior shortstop Sheli Spees, who batted .416, with 11 extra­ base hits and a team-best 20 runs batted in. Junior second baseman Fauna Meek, a transfer from Clackamas CC, batted .375 and drove in 18 runs. Meek also had a .505 on- base percen­ tage. Senior pitcher Carrie Andrews had perhaps her best season, compiling an 11-4 record with three shutouts and a 1.41 ERA. Kim Flolum, also a senior, was 8-4 with a 1.92 ERA. In April, PSU placed second in the Cal State-Hayward Classic, an annual tournament of the best teams in the West Region. The Vikings beat then first-ranked Cal State-Bakersfield in an eight­ inning thriller, 1-0 during the Classic. Andrews threw the shutout victory and Spees earned All-Tournament honors. The Vikings also had a nine-game winning streak at midseason in which they scored 70 runs (7.6 per game.) Spees finished her career with a .373 batting average, second-best all-time in school history. Andrews' 52 career pitching victories was also the second-best in PSU history. With more cooperative weather, both might have set new marks in their respective story Courtesy ofSports Dept. 79