Oregon State
Stephen F. Austin
Hampton Homers to Cap Big Opening Day Win
February 07, 2013 | Softball
Feb. 7, 2013
TEMPE, Ariz. – It was certainly a day of firsts for the Oregon State softball team. The Beavers picked up their first win of the season in the first game of the year, head coach Laura Berg got her first win at the helm, and freshman first baseman Natalie Hampton knocked a few firsts off the list in Oregon State's 9-0 win over Stephen F. Austin on Thursday. The Beavers have won three straight season openers for the first time since 2003-05.
In her first career at-bat, she singled in shortstop Elizabeth Santana and left fielder Lea Cavestany to extend the Beavers' lead to 3-0 in the first. The Beavers plated the first run when Santana drove center fielder Hannah Bouska home a couple of batters earlier.
Those three runs would be more than enough for Berg to notch career coaching victory number one thanks to the stellar pitching of one of the team's veteran pitchers, senior Marina Demore. She scattered three hits, walked just one and didn't allow a runner to reach third base as she notched the complete-game shutout.
The Beavers, on the other hand, may have left a permanent footprint on third base. Demore helped her own cause in the fourth. Catcher Ally Kutz led off with a perfectly placed bunt and moved to third when a bad throw on second baseman Ya Garcia's sacrifice bunt attempt set the table with runners at second and third. Demore drove a single up the middle to extend the lead to 5-0. Ashley Sanchez, pinch-running for Demore, scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-0.
The Beavers struck again in the seventh. Third baseman Desiree Beltran grounded out to score Cavestany to make it 7-0, and Hampton followed with a two-run moon shot to right to cap the scoring. She finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Santana was 2-for-3 and scored a pair of runs.
The Beavers have a doubleheader tomorrow, facing No. 2 Oklahoma at 1:30 p.m. PST and Creighton at 4:30 p.m. PST.
