Oregon State
Washington
Andreana Silences #9 Washington; Beavers Take Series From Huskies
April 22, 2012 | Softball
April 22, 2012
Note: Scroll down for video highlights/interview with Head Coach Kirk Walker
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Tina Andreana threw a complete-game, 121-pitch masterpiece and Ally Kutz tattooed her 10th career home run in the second, helping the 24th-ranked Oregon State softball team to a 3-2 win over No. 9 Washington at the OSU Softball Complex on Sunday afternoon.
Coupled with the team's win in the opener on Friday, OSU claimed only its second series victory over a top-10 team in the last six years (Arizona State - 2010). The Beavers, now owners of 29-15 record, have already accumulated more wins this season than in any of the previous four. Oregon State's 2007 squad, its last postseason team, tallied 41 wins.
The game started inauspiciously for the Beavers as, for the second day in a row, Washington was able to put up a run in the opening frame. Kimi Pohlman singled, advanced to second on a throwing error and eventually crossed the plate on a hit by Nikia Williams.
Undaunted by the minor deficit, Oregon State showed it wasn't fooled by much of what Husky hurler Bryana Walker was throwing in the second as the Beavers reclaimed the lead on just two pitches. Paige Hall started things off with a double into the gap in left center and then was able to trot home when Kutz clobbered the initial pitch in her at-bat on top of the batting cages in left for a two-run home run. It was the Beaver catcher's fourth long ball of the season, her first since March 8 against Long Beach State, and the 10th of her career.
Oregon State would extend its advantage later that inning, adding another run on some textbook two-out softball. Sophomore Hannah Bouska walked, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and came in when Elizabeth Santana worked the count full before singling to right-center field to put the Beavers up, 3-1.
Staked to a lead, Andreana built on her best performance of the year frame-by-frame, holding an offense that came into the series averaging 6.39 runs per game to just one earned in a full seven innings of work. Constantly working her way out of sticky situations, the junior right-hander forced the Huskies to strand nine total runners in the game. Washington left at least one on base in each and every inning.
In the third, UW had two on and two away before Kimberlee Souza hit a lazy fly ball to right field for the third out. Washington added a run in the fourth with the help of an error, but it could have been much worse. With one out and a runner on second freshman Ya Garcia had a slight bobble of a ground ball, but picked it up barehanded and gunned it over to Nikki Chandler at third, catching the Husky runner who had taken too wide of a turn napping for the second out. Andreana then induced a weak grounder to end the threat.
Washington led off the fifth with a double, but again Andreana shut the door emphatically, setting down the next three in order. She was aided by a diving catch on a soft line drive by Lea Cavestany in left field, who read the ball off the crack of the bat and raced in to make the play and preserve the 3-2 lead.
The Huskies stranded another in the sixth, and in the seventh Andreana worked through the heart of their order to earn her fifth complete game of the season. In that final inning, she gave up a leadoff single to Victoria Hayward, Washington's No. 2 hitter in the lineup, before getting UW's 3-4-5 hitters and giftwrapping a series win for the Beavers.
The 13 runs pushed across by Oregon State in the series against Washington give them 244 so far this season, which is tied for the seventh most in school history for any one year. Kirk Walker's team in 2000 scored the same number in 62 games. The Beavers still have 11 more chances to increase that total. The school record dates from 2007 when OSU plated a runner 296 times.
Oregon State will look to reach the 30-win plateau for the 12th time in school history when it hosts Portland State in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 24. The games, the rescheduling of a rainout from April 4, will be the Beavers' final non-conference tilts of the season. First pitch in the opener is set for 2 p.m.
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