Oregon State
California
Valiant Softball Effort Vs. Nation's #1 Comes Up Short On Senior Day
May 06, 2012 | Softball
May 6, 2012
CORVALLIS, Ore. - For the second day in a row the Oregon State softball team held the nation's top squad at bay offensively, allowing only three this to the vaunted Golden Bears, but the Beavers couldn't score more than once themselves in a 4-1 loss to Cal on Sunday afternoon. The game was the third and final contest in the team's annual Strike Out Cancer series and OSU seniors Emily Richardson, Nikki Chandler, Mary Claire Brenner, Erin Guzy and Paige Hall were also honored for their contributions to the program.
For a team that had only lost three games all season and had beaten 17 ranked opponents coming into the series, Cal (48-3, 19-2) could not pull away from the 22nd-ranked Beavers. The Bears scored once in the first and added a run in the third on a sacrifice fly, but three OSU hurlers, Paige Hall, Tina Andreana and Marina Demore kept their team in the game and shut down a Cal team that had six regulars batting over .300 coming into the weekend.
Cal's three hits in the game were the second fewest it had managed in any of its 51 games so far in 2012.
Oregon State (33-19, 8-12) put the ball in play more effectively that its opponent, out-hitting Cal four to three, but had difficulty taking advantage of those baserunners. Dani Gilmore led the game off with a double for OSU, but was left stranded. In the third Hannah Bouska walked, stole second and advanced to third on a single by Elizabeth Santana, but both were unable to cross home plate.
Cal's starter Jolene Henderson threw all seven innings, striking out 12, for her 29th win of the year against only one loss.
OSU scored its run in the seventh inning on a RBI single from Elizabeth Santana, but by that point the Bears' Lindsey Ziegenhirt had already hit a two-run home run to give her team a four-run cushion.
Out of the Beavers' trio of pitchers, Demore lasted five innings and only surrendered two hits. She held Cal hitters to a .179 batting average in 11 frames over the weekend.
Gilmore and Santana both went 2-for-4 for Oregon State and were responsible for all of the Beavers' hits. Defensively, Gilmore made an ESPN-worthy diving grab of a Breana Kostreba line drive in the fifth that brought the crowd of 697 at the OSU Softball Complex to its feet.
Despite the three losses this weekend, the Beavers will in all likelihood have a stronger RPI profile when NCAA statistics are released in the coming days, which will play a big role in ensuring they play late into May for the first time in five years. OSU closes out its regular season with three games at Arizona this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday before awaiting the announcement of the selection committee on postseason placement next Sunday, May 13.
Oregon State is guaranteed of finishing no worse than 11 games over .500. Only one Pac-12 team in the last 15 seasons (Arizona State - 2004) has not advanced to an NCAA Regional after completing its schedule with a winning record. No conference team that has finished more than seven games over .500 has ever been denied a postseason berth.
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