Oregon State
Michigan State
Brenner's Base Knock Keys Beaver Win; Softball Splits Two
March 10, 2012 | Softball
March 10, 2012
OSU 5 MSU 2 Box Score 
| ND 8 OSU 1 Box Score
LAKEWOOD, Calif. - Mary Claire Brenner punched a pinch-hit single through the left side in the sixth and Paige Hall threw three innings of hitless relief, helping the Oregon State softball team to a 5-2, comeback win over Michigan State on the third day of the Long Beach State Invitational on Saturday. The Beavers dropped the tournament finale to Notre Dame later in the afternoon, 8-1.
With the split, Oregon State now stands at 21-6 overall with one game remaining before the start of Pac-12 play.
Looking to avenge an earlier loss this season at the hands of OSU, Michigan State appeared poised to grab a much-needed victory. The Spartans took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth to break a scoreless tie, but Hall slammed her fifth home run of the year and 16th of her career in the bottom half to bring the Beavers back even, 1-1.
MSU inched back in front in the fifth and took a 2-1 lead into the sixth, when Oregon State's bats erupted for four runs. Hall led off the frame being hit by a pitch and Erin Guzy followed that up with a perfect bunt into no-man's land between the pitcher, shortstop and third baseman to put runners on first and second with nobody out.
With Maggie Doremus running for Hall and Madison Bundy on the bases in place of Guzy, Lea Cavestany reached on a fielder's choice to load the bags for Brenner. The senior, using a perfect two-strike approach, shortened her swing to lace a single in the five-six hole between shortstop and third base, scoring two and giving her team the lead, 3-2.
Dani Gilmore kept the mojo going with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Cavestany, and Hannah Bouska capped off the comeback with an RBI single of her own to complete the rally.
Hall did her job silencing Michigan State's bats in the seventh to ensure the Beavers took home their 21st win of the season. In the process, Hall earned her team-leading eighth win of the year and Elizabeth Santana had her team-leading 11th multi-hit game of the season (2-for-4). The victory gave Oregon State its 13th win in 14 games.
Against Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish scored four in the first and three in the second to jump out to a 7-0 advantage, OSU's largest deficit of the season. Hall singled home a run for the Beavers in the fifth, but that would be all Oregon State could manage in the 8-1 final.
OSU wraps up its pre-conference slate with a single game against Harvard in Northridge, Calif. tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.
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