Oregon State
1-0
San Jose State
0-4
Nelson Blanks No. 18 Kentucky to Cap 2-0 Start
February 13, 2016 | Softball
TEMPE, Ariz. – Freshman right-hander Meehra Nelson tossed a two-hit complete game shutout in her first collegiate start to lift the Oregon State softball team to an 8-0 run-rule victory over the 18th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats and cap a 2-0 start to the 2016 season on Friday night from the Tempe Sports Complex.
Friday night's win over the Wildcats followed a victory for Oregon State in its season opener over San Jose State earlier that day, a 14-10 triumph for the Beavers over the Spartans.
Nelson earned her first career win after blanking Kentucky for six innings, striking out five while walking only one and limiting the Wildcats to a pair of singles. The freshman from Simi Valley, Calif. also tossed the final 0.2 innings against San Jose State, where she added a pair of strikeouts.
As a team, Oregon State hit .431 over the two matchups and reached base at a .563 clip. Sophomore left fielder Lovie Lopez was only retired once en route to filling up the stat sheet, finishing 4-for-5 (.800) with a pair of doubles, a home run, four runs batted in and two runs scored. The Santa Fe Springs, Calif. native added a pair of walks and two HBP to finish the day with an .889 on-base percentage.
On a day in which every starting Oregon State batter turned in impressive production at the plate, other standout debuts came from freshman center fielder Jessica Garcia (3-for-7, double, triple, three RBI, run scored) and freshman catcher Kayleen Shafer (2-for-4, double, two RBI, two runs scored, two walks).
Rounding out top Beaver performers on Friday were sophomore shortstop McKenna Arriola, who drove in three runs on 3-for-7 hitting with a walk, and redshirt junior Natalie Hampton, who accounted for the Beavers' other home run along with four RBI and a run scored.
Game One: Oregon State 14, San Jose State 10
Oregon State's first three batters reached base en route to the Beavers' first run of the season. After Arriola walked to open the first inning, singles from freshman right fielder Shelby Weeks and sophomore first baseman Alysha Everett pushed her across, before Hampton drove in the second run on a fielder's choice. Senior second baseman Mikela Manewa doubled to bring in Everett, and after a Lopez walk, sophomore third baseman Gina Bond followed with a double of her own to drive in both and extend the Beavers' advantage to 5-0.
In her first collegiate at-bat, Garcia tripled to drive in Bond, and Arriola capped the inning off with an RBI single to give the Beavers a 7-0 lead after one.
After the Beavers were held in check in the top of the second, San Jose State answered with a three-run bottom of the second. Taylor Purdy drove in the Spartans' first run on a double, while Brittany Abacherli brought in two on another double to cut the lead to 7-3.
Following a scoreless third inning, Oregon State got a couple of those runs back in the top of the fourth. Manewa, senior catcher Sammi Noland and Lopez each singled to load the bases before Bond drove in the first run on a sacrifice fly. Garcia singled in another to give the Beavers a 9-2 advantage after four.
San Jose State's largest offensive outburst came in the bottom of the fifth, when the Spartans pulled four runs across. An error and a single put the first two runners on base before the lead runner was knocked in on an RBI single. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases and then forced in the second run, while the final two were accounted for on a throwing error and RBI groundout. An RBI single to left in the bottom of the sixth added another run for the Spartans, who cut the lead to one at 9-8.
In the top of the seventh, RBI singles by Hampton and Shafer added another pair of runs to Oregon State's total, and Lopez slugged the Beavers' first home run of the season, a three-run shot, to move the advantage back to six at 14-8. The Spartans managed a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame, but Nelson entered the game and struck out the final two batters to seal a 14-10 Oregon State win.
Game Two: Oregon State 8, No. 18 Kentucky 0 (6 Innings)
Oregon State got on the board first with a run in the second inning. Junior third baseman Madison Anthony led off with a single through the left side and advanced to third on an error on the left fielder. Lopez was hit by pitch and Shafer walked to load the bases, setting up a 13-pitch at-bat by Arriola, who gave the Beavers a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly to left.
Hampton's two-run home run on Friday came in the bottom of the third following an Everett walk. Manewa followed the homer with a single to right, then Lopez doubled down the left field line to knock her in and give the Beavers a 4-0 lead.
The Beavers extended their lead to seven with another three-run frame in the fifth. Shafer accounted for the first run on an RBI double to left, before Arriola and Everett drove in one run each, both in bases-loaded situations.
Nelson sat down the Wildcats in order four times on Friday night, including in the top of the sixth to set up what would be the game's concluding frame. The Beavers got baserunners in the bottom of the sixth after walks by Lopez, who was caught stealing at second, and by Shafer, who gave way to pinch runner Dacia Sykes. Garcia finished the night off with a double into right, scoring Sykes from first and clinching the 8-0 run-rule victory.
For more information on the Oregon State softball team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/OregonStateSB, by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateSB or on Instagram at Instagram.com/OregonStateSB.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Miller, Bev (1-0)
L: LADNER, Chantelle (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Manewa, Mikela 1 ; Lopez, Lovie 1 ; Bond, Gina 1
3B: Garcia, Jessica 1
HR: Lopez, Lovie 1
RBI: Arriola, McKenna 1 ; Everett, Alysha 1 ; Hampton, Natalie 2 ; Manewa, Mikela 1 ; Shafer, Kayleen 1 ; Lopez, Lovie 3 ; Bond, Gina 3 ; Garcia, Jessica 2
SF: Bond, Gina 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Arriola, McKenna 1 ; Weeks, Shelby 2 ; Everett, Alysha 1 ; Gregoire, Riley 1 ; Manewa, Mikela 3 ; Noland, Sammi 1 ; Shafer, Kayleen 1 ; Lopez, Lovie 2 ; Bond, Gina 1 ; Garcia, Jessica 1
SB: Weeks, Shelby 1 ; Sass, Michelle 1
CS: Garcia, Jessica 1
HBP: Everett, Alysha 1 ; Lopez, Lovie 1
PO: Sykes, Dacia 1
Batting:
2B: ABACHERLI, Brittany 2 ; PURDY, Taylor 1
RBI: ABACHERLI, Brittany 2 ; HEFFLEY, Kristen 2 ; AURIN, Madison 1 ; MARTINEZ, Aylssa 2 ; PURDY, Taylor 2
Base Running:
RUNS: ABACHERLI, Brittany 1 ; WATT, Casey 1 ; MADRID, Jessica 2 ; AURIN, Madison 1 ; ENTZMINGER, Emma 1 ; MARTINEZ, Aylssa 1 ; LUNA, Alexandra 1 ; PURDY, Taylor 2
