Oregon State
Idaho State
Softball Routs Long Beach St. in Second of Two Wins Saturday
February 16, 2013 | Softball
Feb. 16, 2013
LAS VEGAS – A 12-run fourth inning broke open the Oregon State softball team's game with Long Beach State on Saturday night, as the Beavers cruised to a 17-3 win over the 49ers. The Beavers (7-3) also defeated Idaho State, 3-2, earlier in the day to extend their winning streak to five games.
In the epic fourth inning with the Beavers leading, 5-3, OSU came one batter shy of starting a third trip through the lineup. Seventeen batters came to the plate and 12 of the first 13 reached base. Senior shortstop Elizabeth Santana started the inning with a single to left and ended up at third base after two Long Beach State errors on the play. Freshman Natalie Hampton singled Santana home to make it 6-3 and to provide a little insurance. Santana was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Senior starting pitcher Marina Demore hit a bases-clearing triple a few batters later to score Hampton among others to make it 9-3. Center fielder Dani Gilmore had an RBI single and later scored on Santana's second single of the inning put the Beavers ahead, 12-3. After a Hampton walk, third baseman Desiree Beltran was hit by a pitch for the second time in the inning and third time in the game to force in the 13th run. Then, senior Lea Cavestany hit a grand slam to straightaway center field to make it 17-3.
Cavestany was 2-for-4 with the four RBIs and two runs scored. Gilmore was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Demore and Hampton each had two hits.
Demore earned the win after a rocky first inning in which she allowed back-to-back home runs. She buckled down from there as the Beavers clawed ahead before putting the game out of reach in the fourth. Santana hit a two-run single and Hampton added an RBI single in a second inning that saw OSU erase the 3-0 LBSU lead and tie the score.
In the third, Gilmore went opposite field as her first homer of the season gave the Beavers a 5-3 lead.
In the first game of the day, the Beavers scored single runs in the first three innings and held on to defeat Idaho State, 3-2. Santana drove in Gilmore in the first with an RBI single to open the scoring. In the next two at-bats, the Beavers used the long ball to extend their lead. Senior Ashley Sanchez homered in the second to make it 2-0, and Hampton homered to right center an inning later for a 3-0 lead.
The Beavers held off a late surge from the Bengals. Idaho State scored two in the sixth and had the tying run in scoring position in the seventh, but Cavestany made a diving catch for the final out of the game to preserve the victory for freshman Tina Andreana pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the save.
Santana and Sanchez each had two hits against the Bengals. The Beavers finish up in Las Vegas with a 9:00 a.m. first pitch against Seattle.
