Oregon State
Utah
Softball Ends Utah Series With a Bang, Wins 10-2
April 14, 2013 | Softball
April 14, 2013
CORVALLIS, Ore. – For the second day in a row, Utah scored two runs in the top of the first inning. Unlike yesterday though, the Oregon State softball team piled hit on top of hit to erase that early deficit as it cruised past the Utes, 10-2, in five innings Sunday afternoon. Five Beavers had multi-hit games as the team took two of three from Utah.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the first, sophomore Dani Gilmore led off with a walk. She took a free trip home on freshman Natalie Hampton 's 13th home run of the season, a blast to right that landed beyond the outer fence of the OSU Softball Complex and into an adjacent parking lot. The homer moves her into a tie with Audrey Roderfeld in 2009 for fourth place on the school's single-season home run list, just three behind the school record of 16 by Cambria Miranda in 2006.
Oregon State (26-15) was hardly finished. In the second, six consecutive Beavers reached base en route to a six-run inning. The big blow in the frame came on a two-run double from senior Lea Cavestany. With the second run of the inning scoring on a single from second baseman Ya Garcia, Cavestany doubled that total by plating Garcia and shortstop Elizabeth Santana.
Garcia and Cavestany are probably sad to see the series come to a close. Garcia went 2-for-2 today and hit a mind-boggling .875 (7-for-8), with Cavestany just behind with a .778 average (7-for-9) and six RBIs in the three-game series. She was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored today.
A run-scoring single from Desiree Beltran and an RBI ground out by Hannah Bouska rounded out the scoring in the frame. All told, 11 hitters came to the plate in the bottom of the second, six of them crossed home, and OSU had an 8-2 lead.
It was more than enough run support for senior starter Tina Andreana. After allowing the two runs on two Utah hits in the first, she held the opposition hitless over the final four innings. Andreana retired 13 consecutive batters before hitting Chalese Fankhauser with a pitch with two outs in the fifth inning.
The Beavers added two runs in the bottom of the fourth to push the game to the brink of the mercy rule. Cavestany's third hit, a single to right, opened the door. Beltran doubled her to third and Bouska brought her in with a single to center. Beltran hit .444 in the series after her 3-for-3 today, and she scored the 10th Oregon State run on Ashley Sanchez 's two-out single.
Gilmore batted .556 with a homer in the series. Hampton had two hits in three trips today along with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Oregon State next travels to No. 9 California next weekend for a three-game Pac-12 series.
