Softball Splits Sunday to Finish 4-1 at Kajikawa

Sunday, February 14

Tempe, AZ

10:15 AM

Oregon State

3-1

Cal Poly

3-2

Oregon State

Cal Poly

Photo by: Dave Nishitani/Oregon State Athletics

February 15, 2016 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Athletic Communications

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Oregon State softball team fell to Cal Poly, 7-3, in its first loss of the season, but bounced back to defeat New Mexico, 11-1, on Sunday and finish 4-1 at the Kajikawa Classic held at the Tempe Sports Complex.

Meehra Nelson (3-0) picked up her third win in as many starts to begin her collegiate career, dealing all five innings against New Mexico (2-2) and holding the Lobos to one run on two hits and walks with 10 strikeouts. Nelson added 2.2 scoreless, hitless innings of relief against Cal Poly (3-2), striking out five of the eight Mustangs she faced. Through Oregon State's five games and 21.1 innings pitched, Nelson owns a 0.98 ERA with 29 strikeouts.

“She just challenges the hitters – she goes straight at them,” Oregon State head coach Laura Berg said. “She's done a great job of getting ahead in counts. She's one of those pitchers that says 'give me the ball, I want the ball in my hand.' She doing of a good job with a one pitch at a time approach and gets ahead of hitters.”

Sophomore shortstop McKenna Arriola finished Sunday 6-for-8 (.750) with a double, two RBI, three runs scored and a stolen base from the leadoff spot. This season, Arriola leads Oregon State in batting average (.556), hits (10) and stolen bases (2).

”McKenna has been huge for us,” Berg said. “She's key to this team's success. With the experience she had with the U.S. National Team this summer, I'm expecting things like that from her. She's definitely capable of it.”

Junior third baseman Madison Anthony went 3-for-5 (.600) with three doubles, a pair of RBI and a run scored. Redshirt junior Natalie Hampton rounded out top OSU performers with 3-for-7 hitting (.429), including two doubles, six RBI, a run scored and a stolen base.

Game One: Cal Poly 7, Oregon State 3
Cal Poly got on the board first in the second with a pair of unearned runs. Sandwiched in between a strikeout and a groundout were a pair of singles to give the Mustangs runners on first and second. An errant throw to first base on the next at-bat allowed both lead runners to score and give Cal Poly an early 2-0 advantage.

Oregon State got a run back on an Arriola RBI single in the top of the third, but Cal Poly answered with five more in the bottom of the frame. The Mustangs put runners on second and third with a single and double, respectively, before plating a combined three runs on a fielder's choice and two-RBI double.

The Mustangs added their final two runs off of errors in the latter stages of the third inning. With two runners on, a bobbled relay on a single to right allowed the lead runner to score from third, before another came in on a throwing error in the next at-bat.

The Beavers cut into the Cal Poly lead with a pair of runs on a Hampton two-RBI double to right, but left the bases loaded in that frame and were unable to come back any further, falling for the first time this season, 7-3.

“We stumbled a little bit and didn't quite have the energy that we had in the first three games,” Berg said. “We figured it out and were able to bounce back against New Mexico, where took care of the ball and came up with some big hits.”

Game Two: Oregon State 11, New Mexico 1
After scoring three runs in the earlier game against Cal Poly, Oregon State jumped out with four runs in the first inning against New Mexico. Arriola and Weeks led off with singles each, and moved up to second and third on the following groundout. Hampton drove both in on a two-RBI double, and moved to third on a Lopez single up the middle. The two executed a double steal to account for the third run of the inning, while Anthony drove in Lopez for the inning's fourth run on a double to left field.

The Beavers added their other seven runs in the fourth inning. Hampton picked up her second two-RBI double of the game for the first two runs of the frame, before Lopez followed with a double of her own to drive in another. Each of Anthony and Arriola pitched in additional RBI on a double, while Shafer drove one in on a sacrifice fly to left. With two outs in the frame, Oregon State's remaining run scored was accounted for on a miscue by the New Mexico third baseman, allowing the runner to reach at first and Anthony to score from third.

New Mexico's lone run came on a solo home run in the top of the third inning. Aside from that, Nelson allowed only one additional base hit and struck out the Lobos 10 times en route to a five-inning, run-rule victory.

The Oregon State softball team returns to action next weekend from Friday, Feb. 19 through Saturday, Feb. 21 at the DeMarini Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. The Beavers open with Robert Morris at 1:30 p.m. PT and Hawai'I at 3:45 p.m. PT on that Friday, before matchups with Wichita State (11:15 a.m. PT) and UC-Davis (3:45 p.m. PT) on Saturday, and games with Boise State (11:15 a.m. PT) and San Jose State (1:30 p.m. PT) on Sunday.

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.