Beavers Host Arizona State to Close Regular Season
May 11, 2016 | Softball
Oregon State Beavers
(28-18-1, 7-14 Pac-12)
vs. Arizona State Sun Devils
(30-22, 6-15 Pac-12)
OSU Softball Complex
Corvallis, Ore.
Thursday | 3 p.m. PT
Friday | 2 p.m. PT
Saturday | Noon PT
Pac-12 Networks Coverage
Thursday | Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 Arizona
Friday | Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 Arizona
Saturday | Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 Arizona
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State softball team closes its 2016 regular season this weekend with a three-game Pac-12 series in The Best College Town in the Pac-12, as the Beavers host the Arizona State Sun Devils at the OSU Softball Complex.
Game one of this weekend's series is set to begin at 3 p.m. PT on Thursday. First pitch for game two is slated for 2 p.m. PT on Friday, while the final game of the 2016 regular season is scheduled for a noon PT start on Saturday.
Saturday's game is tabbed as Senior Day. Before the game, the Oregon State softball program will celebrate the careers of right-hander Bev Miller and second baseman Mikela Manewa.
Friday's game between Oregon State and Arizona State will be Military Appreciation Day, and will include an anthem singer and first pitch from attendees with military service. On Thursday, first pitch will be thrown out by OSU men's basketball head coach Wayne Tinkle.
The series opener on Thursday is set to be televised live nationally on the Pac-12 Network. All three games will be televised regionally on Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 Arizona. Elise Woodward will handle play-by-play duties for this weekend's series, and Kenzie Fowler will serve as the analyst.
Oregon State (28-18-1, 7-14 Pac-12) currently ranks seventh in the Pac-12 standings, just ahead of Arizona State (30-22, 6-15 Pac-12). Each team enters the matchup hitting well, as the Beavers own a .313 team batting average, while the Sun Devils are hitting .327 as a team. The Beavers hold the pitching edge (3.32 team ERA vs. Arizona State's 3.90 team ERA), while the Sun Devils enter with a defensive edge (.970 fielding percentage vs. .964 for OSU).
In addition to Pac-12 Networks coverage, live stats will be available for the entirety of the weekend. 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 .313.
- 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 the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year, Nelson has gone 15-8 with six saves to open her collegiate career and ranks sixth in the nation in saves as well as 29th in strikeouts (192). The Simi Valley, Calif. native leads all Pac-12 freshmen in six significant categories, including saves, strikeouts, batters struck out looking (63), innings pitched (152.2), batting average against (.197) and total appearances (38).
- Redshirt junior Natalie Hampton has the Pac-12's No. 8 RBI total (47) and is batting .336 with nine home runs and 10 doubles this season from the cleanup spot in the lineup. 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 .376 batting average. She also leads the team in on-base percentage (.447) and hits (59, eighth in Pac-12).
- Sophomore outfielder Lovie Lopez ranks second in Pac-12 with a team-high 13 doubles while freshman center fielder Jessica Garcia is tied with Arriola for the team stolen bases lead (each have 11, ranked No. 7 in Pac-12). Fellow freshman right fielder Shelby Weeks leads the club in walks (19) and is tied with Arriola for the team lead in runs scored (33).
Student-Athlete Profile
No. 9 Bev Miller
Senior Right-Handed Pitcher
Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Sunset HS/Monterrey Peninsula JC
- A bioengineering major
- The daughter of Les and Sue Miller
- Has four siblings, Desiree, Ben, Anna and Glenn
- Her favorite sporting events to attend at OSU outside of softball are gymnastics meets
- Started playing T-ball at age four and began pitching at age seven
- One of her inspirations for playing softball was that she looked up to her older sister Anna, who also played softball
- Her gameday superstitions include always wearing a visor
No. 12 Mikela Manewa
Senior Second Baseman
Hometown: Kapolei, Hawai'i
Kapolei HS/C. of Southern Nevada
- Majoring in public health
- The daughter of Mikel and Randy Manewa
- Has two brothers, Randy III and Micah
- Despite being a public health major, she says she eats a lot of junk food
- Began playing softball at age five
- Her favorite sporting events to attend outside of softball are football games
- Says her jersey No. 12 is a family number, and looks up to a cousin that wore it
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 six saves in 2016, tying the Oregon State single-season record. She is tied at six with three others - Paige Hall in 2012, Monica Hoffman in 2004 and Tarrah Beyster in 1999.
- Nelson's six saves also ranks as the seventh-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 .376 in 2016, just shy of the 10th-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 among the top offensive teams in the nation in terms of team statistical rankings through 47 games.
- As a team, Oregon State is highly ranked in doubles per game (35th – 1.55, 73 total), triples per game (29th – 0.26, 12 total), batting average (44th - .313), runs scored per game (65th - 5.43, 255 total) and slugging percentage (59th - .468).
- Individually, redshirt junior first baseman/designated player Natalie Hampton ranks No. 55 in RBI per game (1.00, 47 total).
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 15-8 with six saves, a 3.12 ERA and 192 strikeouts, the most of any freshman in power conferences and second amongst all freshmen nationally.
- 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 38 appearances and 22 starts this season, Nelson is ranked sixth in the nation in saves (6) and ranks 29th in the country in strikeouts (192). The rookie leads the conference in saves, and ranks No. 2 in strikeouts and No. 3 in innings pitched (152.2).
- She leads all Pac-12 freshmen in each of those categories, as well as in batters struck out looking (61), batting average against (.197) and appearances (38).
- 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 aren't ranked by either major poll this week, but rank No. 25 in the NCAA RPI. Last week, the Beavers were ranked at No. 23 in the RPI.
- 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.
OREGON STATE ATHLETICS' EVERYDAY CHAMPIONS CULTURE
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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.
