Oregon State
California
Cavestany Homers, But Softball Falls at No. 10 Cal
April 20, 2013 | Softball
April 20, 2013
BERKELEY, Calif. – Senior outfielder Lea Cavestany hit her ninth home run of the season, but the Oregon State softball team dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 10 California on Saturday afternoon at Levine-Frick Field.
Cavestany hit her homer in the top of the fifth inning with the Beavers entering the at-bat trailing, 3-0, on a towering shot to right that left no doubt about whether or not it would leave the park. It's Oregon State's 47th home run of the season, the sixth highest total in school history and most since the Beavers hit 49 in 2007. The next home run will tie the 2004 team with 48.
Cal (35-8) used a pair of solo homers to jump out to its three-run lead. Breana Kostreba led off the bottom of the second with a home run to open the game's scoring. After Cal added a second run in the inning on a two-out single, the Bears extended the lead with Victoria Jones' one-out homer to right center. Senior shortstop Elizabeth Santana made one of her best plays of the season on the next hitter with a diving catch on a liner into the hole to prevent the rally from continuing.
Senior hurler Marina Demore didn't allow much, giving up just five hits in her six innings of work. She kept the Beavers in the game, and Cavestany's homer to lead off the fifth inning gave OSU life. Sophomore Ya Garcia singled and stole second in the sixth but was stranded there as the Beavers looked to scratch away at the Cal advantage. Demore then left the bases loaded in the bottom half of the inning to keep the deficit at two runs heading into the Beavers' final at-bat.
Oregon State got off to a good start offensively as sophomore Dani Gilmore doubled on a flare over third base to lead off the game. Though she was stranded, she did extend her season-best hitting streak to six games. She has hits in her first at-bat in the first two games of this series and has reached based in her first plate appearance in three straight.
The Beavers and Bears conclude the series tomorrow at noon.
