OSU Softball Hosts Washington in Dam Cancer Series
April 21, 2016 | Softball
Oregon State Beavers
(26-14-1, 5-10 Pac-12)
vs. No. 10 Washington Huskies
(28-9, 9-6 Pac-12)
OSU Softball Complex
Corvallis, Ore.
Friday | 1 p.m. PT
Saturday | 1 p.m. PT
Sunday | 3 p.m. PT
Pac-12 Networks Coverage
Sunday | Pac-12 Network, Oregon and Washington
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State softball team returns to the friendly confines of the OSU Softball Complex this weekend, as the Beavers are set to host the 10th-ranked Washington Huskies in The Best College Town in the Pac-12.
Oregon State (26-14-1, 5-10 Pac-12) and Washington (28-9, 9-6 Pac-12) begin this weekend's series on Friday at 1 p.m. PT. Game two is also slated for a 1 p.m. PT start, while first pitch for Sunday's series finale is set for 3 p.m. PT.
This weekend's series will be the Oregon State softball team's Dam Cancer series. The team will wear its pink uniforms for the entirety of the weekend and will unveil new pink helmets special to the annual series. On Sunday, breast cancer survivors will throw out first pitch and sing the national anthem as part of the pre-game ceremonies.
A live raffle will begin this weekend for one of the pink helmets that OSU is set to unveil, and will remain open through the final home game of the season. The helmet is signed by each member of the 2016 Oregon State softball team, and all proceeds from the raffle will be donated to Project H.E.R. to support breast cancer awareness and treatment.
Sunday's game is set to be televised live on each of the Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 Washington. Ann Schatz will handle the play-by-play duties, while Teri Goldberg will serve as the analyst.
Oregon State is currently ranked seventh in the Pac-12 ahead of Arizona State and Stanford, while Washington sits in fifth place in the league. The Huskies have series wins over UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State and California, with their lone series loss coming in a sweep at home against Oregon.
This weekend's matchup features two of the league's top lineups in terms of batting average, as Washington ranks second in the Pac-12 with a team batting average of .352, while Oregon State is third in the league with a .327 team average. The Beavers are 2-5 at home so far in 2016, while Washington holds a 7-1 record on the road. The Huskies own a 57-19 all-time series edge.
Live stats will be available for the entirety of the weekend, although there will not be Pac-12 Networks coverage or a live stream for games one and two. 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 .329, the 17th-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. A top 25 finalist for Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year, Nelson has gone 15-6 with four saves to open her collegiate career and ranks 17th in the nation in saves as well as 23rd in strikeouts (170). The Simi Valley, Calif. native all Pac-12 freshmen in seven significant categories, including wins, saves, strikeouts, batters struck out looking (55), innings pitched (135.0), batting average against (.194) and total appearances (33).
- Redshirt junior Natalie Hampton has the nation's No. 21 and Pac-12's No. 3 RBI (47) total and is batting .376 with nine home runs and 10 doubles this season. Hampton hit .550 (11-for-20) with three home runs and 15 RBI at the DeMarini Desert Classic, her top weekend of the season.
- Sophomore shortstop McKenna Arriola leads the team with a .406 batting average, a mark that also ranks eighth in the conference. She also leads the team in on-base percentage (.476) and hits (52, third in Pac-12).
- Sophomore outfielder Lovie Lopez ranks second in Pac-12 with a team-high 12 doubles while freshman center fielder Jessica Garcia is tied with Arriola for the team stolen bases lead (each have 11, No. 6 in Pac-12) and fellow freshman right fielder Shelby Weeks leads the club in walks (17) and runs scored (32).
Student-Athlete Profile
No. 7 Taylor Cotton
Junior Left-Handed Pitcher
Hometown: Lincoln, Calif.
Whitney HS/California
- An outstanding student, majoring in economics while working towards a minor in psychology
- The daughter of Trish and Derek Cotton
- Has two siblings, Ali and Chass
- Began playing softball at age eight
- Her favorite sport to attend outside of softball is football because of the atmosphere
- Describes the coaching staff as “intense, yet fun and goofy”
Record Watch
- Redshirt junior first baseman Natalie Hampton currently has fourth-most RBI in a single season in OSU history (47). Hampton set the record with 50 in 2013, her freshman season.
- Hampton has 30 home runs for her career, the eighth-most in OSU history. The school record for most home runs in a career is 52 by Tarrah Beyster (1997-00).
- Freshman right-hander Meehra Nelson has four saves in 2016, tying for the sixth-most in a single season in OSU history. The record is a three-way tie at six (Paige Hall in 2012, Monica Hoffman in 2004 and Tarrah Beyster in 1999).
- Nelson's four saves also ranks as the 10th-most in a career at Oregon State. The career record is held by former All-American Brianne McGowan, who had 13 saves from 2004-07.
- Sophomore shortstop McKenna Arriola is batting .408 in 2016, on pace for the fifth-highest batting average in a single season in program history. The record was set in 1978 by Denise Small, who hit .507.
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 41 games.
- As a team, Oregon State is ranked within the top-25 nationally in batting average (21st - .327) and doubles per game (16th – 1.68, 69 total).
- Notably, the Beavers are also ranked 37th in runs scored per game (5.98, 245 total), 41st in slugging percentage (.490) and 83rd in stolen bases per game (1.17, 48-of-56 total).
- Individually, redshirt junior first baseman/designated player Natalie Hampton ranks 21st in the nation in RBI (47) and in RBI per game (1.15).
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 15-6 with four saves, a 2.90 ERA and 170 strikeouts.
- Nelson is one of 25 finalists for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Player of the Year. She is the only student-athlete to make the list from the Pac-12, and is one of seven pitchers amongst the finalists.
- Through 33 appearances and 21 starts this season, Nelson is ranked 17th in the nation in saves (4) and ranks 23rd in the country in strikeouts (170). The rookie leads the conference in saves, and ranks No. 2 in strikeouts and wins as well as No. 3 in innings pitched (135.0).
- She leads all Pac-12 freshmen in each of those categories, as well as in batters struck out looking (55), batting average against (.194) and appearances (33).
- 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.
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 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.
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 action, the Beavers will be idle for a week before its last road series of the season at Arizona from May 6-8. The Beavers close the 2016 regular season with a home series against Arizona State from May 12-14.
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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.
