Softball Treks to Bay Area for Series at Stanford
March 31, 2016 | Softball
Oregon State Beavers
(21-9-1, 1-5 Pac-12)
at Stanford Cardinal
(11-14, 0-3 Pac-12)
Smith Family Stadium
Stanford, Calif.
Friday | 7 p.m. PT
Saturday | 6 p.m. PT
Sunday | Noon PT
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State softball team hits the road this week for its second Pac-12 series on the road this season, as the Beavers head to the Bay Area to face the Stanford Cardinal.
Oregon State (21-9-1, 1-5 Pac-12) and Stanford (11-14, 0-3 Pac-12) begin the three-game conference set on Friday at 7 p.m. PT. First pitch for game two is set for 6 p.m. PT on Saturday, while the series finale on Sunday is slated to begin at noon PT.
This weekend marks the third Pac-12 series of the 2016 season for Oregon State. The Beavers look to bounce back in their second series in as many weekends against Bay Area foes after Cal took two in last weekend's conference set. The Beavers also look to bounce back on the road after dropping its first road series at Utah, while the Cardinal are still searching for their first conference victory.
Oregon State has won each of the two previous series with Stanford and three of the last four, highlighted by a sweep of the Cardinal last season at the OSU Softball Complex. Stanford owns the edge in the all-time series against Oregon State, 47-31, but the Beavers are 6-3 against the Cardinal under head coach Laura Berg.
Oregon State is 1-3 in true road games this season, with its win coming against CSUN, 1-0, on March 12 at the Matador Classic in Northridge, Calif. Stanford is 4-7 in home games in 2016.
There will not be live video or television coverage for this weekend's series, but live stats will be made available by Stanford for the entirety of the three-game set. Links for the live stats will be posted as they are available, and can be accessed through the 2016 softball schedule page on OSUBeavers.com.
Leading Off
- In each of the past three seasons under head coach Laura Berg, Oregon State has set a new record for team batting average, matching the 2006 mark with a .280 team batting average in 2013 before breaking the record in consecutive seasons, hitting .287 as a team in 2014 and .298 in 2015. As a team this season, Oregon State has hit .338, the 13th-highest team batting average in the nation.
- A big factor in the success of this year's Oregon State softball team has been the pitching, highlighted by the play of freshman right-hander Meehra Nelson. The rookie has gone 11-4 with four saves to open her collegiate career and ranks third in the nation in saves as well as 14th in strikeouts (125). The Simi Valley, Calif. native led the Pac-12 in strikeouts, wins, saves and innings pitched for much of the 2016 season, now ranking No. 2 in strikeouts and innings pitched (105.2) and No. 4 in wins.
- Redshirt junior Natalie Hampton has the nation's No. 8 and Pac-12's No. 2 RBI (41) total and is batting .390 with eight home runs and as many doubles. Hampton hit .550 (11-for-20) with three home runs and 15 RBI at the DeMarini Desert Classic, and leads the team in home runs, RBI and total bases (44).
- Sophomore shortstop McKenna Arriola leads the team in batting average (.419), on-base percentage (.496) and hits (44). Sophomore outfielder Lovie Lopez paces the club in doubles (10, No. 2 in Pac-12) and runs scored (24), while freshman center fielder Jessica Garcia is tied with Arriola for the team stolen bases lead (each have 10) and even with Hampton for the team lead in walks (each have 13).
Student-Athlete Profile
No. 5 Alysha Everett
Sophomore First Baseman
Hometown: Trabuco Canyon, Calif.
Mission Viejo HS
- Majoring in biohealth sciences
- The daughter of Carol and Michael Everett
- Has one younger brother, Joshua
- Was teammates at Mission Viejo High School with current Beaver catcher Kayleen Shafer
- Enjoys the outdoors, hiking and reading outside of softball
- Favorite sport to attend outside of softball is baseball
- Knew she wanted to attend Oregon State in her sophomore year of high school
Beavers in the Polls
- Oregon State has been ranked in the national polls for four weeks, including one week this season with rankings in both major polls.
- The Beavers are receiving in this week's ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll. OSU was ranked No. 24 in the poll last week.
- The Beavers entered the USA Today/NFCA Division I Poll with a No. 25 ranking two weeks ago, but are not receiving votes this week.
- The Beavers entered the national rankings following its 14-2 start to the season, entering the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll tied at No. 22. It marked the first time they were ranked since April 2, 2013, when they were ranked at No. 24 in the USA Today/NFCA poll.
- Oregon State was also ranked in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll for the first time since May 13, 2012, where the Beavers were ranked at No. 24.
Caution: The Bats Are Hot
- According to the NCAA, Oregon State is one of the top offensive teams in the nation in terms of team statistical rankings through 31 games.
- As a team, Oregon State is ranked within the top-25 nationally in batting average (13th - .338), doubles per game (sixth – 1.84, 57 total) and on-base percentage (23rd - .416) Notably, the Beavers are also ranked 31st in slugging percentage (.506), 29th in runs scored per game (6.19, 192 total) and 73rd in stolen bases per game (1.39, 43-of-50 total).
- Individually, redshirt junior first baseman/designated player Natalie Hampton ranks eighth in the nation in RBI (39) and 11th in RBI per game (1.32).
Full Nelson
- Freshman right-hander Meehra Nelson has helped build depth in the Oregon State pitching staff with a strong start to her collegiate career, sitting at 11-4 with four saves, a 2.72 ERA and 125 strikeouts.
- Through 25 appearances and 16 starts this season, Nelson is ranked third in the nation in saves (4) and ranks 14th in the country in strikeouts (125). The rookie leads the conference in saves, and ranks No. 2 in strikeouts and innings pitched (105.2) as well as No. 4 in wins.
- Following the hot start to her collegiate career, Nelson was named Pac-12 Softball Freshman of the Week on Wednesday, Feb. 17, and Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday, March 1.
- Following the Beavers' win over Kentucky in her first collegiate start, Nelson helped her case for the first Pac-12 FOW award of the season with wins in starts against each of CSUN and New Mexico in respective complete-game outings. The freshman held CSUN to a pair of runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts, and capped the weekend by limiting New Mexico to a single run on two hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts.
Return of a Record-Setting Offense
- The Beavers return six lineup regulars from a 2015 squad that lit up multiple lists in Oregon State's all-time school record books. As a team last season, Oregon State set the school record for batting average, had the second-most runs scored and RBI in program history, and the fourth-most doubles and walks.
- Oregon State returns many of the players chiefly responsible for those team, as Mikela Manewa placed second on the team in batting average (.338), RBI (37) and walks (26) last year, while McKenna Arriola finished second in runs scored (39) and Sammi Noland led the team in RBI (40) and placed second in doubles (9).
- Under head coach Laura Berg, Oregon State has made many other entries in the all-time record books in previous seasons, including in batting average twice (.287 in 2014 - 2nd all-time; 280 in 2013 – 3rd all-time), runs scored (227 in 2013 – 5th all-time), RBI (245 in 2013 – 5th all-time), walks (179 in 2013 – 5th all-time), home runs (52 in 2013 – 4th all-time) and triples (14 in 2014 – 5th all-time).
2015 Team in All-Time Program Records
1st – Batting Average (.298; broke record of .287 from 2014)
2nd – Runs Scored (300; record is 301 in 2012)
2nd – Runs Batted In (265; record is 269 in 2012)
4th – Doubles (74; record is 88 in 2003)
4th – Walks (182; record is 204 in 1999)
What the Beavers Brought Back
- In each of the past three seasons under head coach Laura Berg, Oregon State has set a new record for team batting average, matching the 2006 mark with a .280 team batting average in 2013 before breaking the record in consecutive seasons, hitting .287 as a team in 2014 and .298 in 2015.
- The Beavers return six lineup regulars from the 2015 team, including senior infielder Mikela Manewa, who finished the season hitting .338, as well as redshirt junior infielder Natalie Hampton, who owns OSU's single-season RBI record (50 in 2013), and senior catcher Sammi Noland, who led the Beavers in RBI in 2015 (40) and is OSU's top returning leader in home runs (8).
- In the circle, ace right-hander Bev Miller returns for her senior season after posting a 15-13 record in 2015 with a 3.64 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 194.1 innings pitched.
- Forming a deep staff along with Miller are junior south paw Taylor Cotton, who tossed 49.1 innings last season, as well as newcomer Meehra Nelson, who joined the Beavers after finishing high school with a 0.96 ERA.
Looking Ahead
- Following this weekend's series in the Bay Area, the Oregon State softball team returns home to Corvallis to host the Oregon Ducks in a three-game Civil War series.
- The three-game set hosted in The Best College Town in the Pac-12 will open on Friday at 3 p.m. PT. Game two of the series is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. PT, while first pitch for the series finale is slated for 3 p.m. PT.
- All three games against Oregon are scheduled to be televised live on Pac-12 Oregon. In addition, the series opener on Friday will be televised live nationally on the Pac-12 Networks.
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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.
