Beavers Face Another Top-10 Team This Week

THE WEEK
• The Beavers will continue Pac-12 Conference action this weekend hosting No. 8/9 UCLA.
• Oregon State will face the Bruins in a three-game series starting on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m.
• The two teams will also play Friday afternoon at 3 p.m., and finish Saturday starting at 2 p.m.
• The series will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks with Elise Woodward and Amanda Freed serving as talent.

LOOKING AHEAD
• Following this week's action, the Beavers will stay in Corvallis and host non-conference opponent Portland State on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
• Next weekend Oregon State will host Stanford for a three-game series starting on Friday afternoon.
• Friday afternoon's game will the only one broadcast on Pac-12 Networks with the first pitch scheduled for 3:05 p.m.
• The series will continue on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m., before concluding on Saturday at noon.
• All three games will be played at the OSU Softball Complex.

BEAVERS AT GLANCE
• The Beavers are 19-17 overall and 2-7 in league play after taking a game from No. 10 Washington last weekend in Seattle.
• OSU is ranked No. 45 in the RPI this week.
• Redshirt senior, Natalie Hampton set with school recorded with 144 career RBIs in last Saturday's win over No. 10 Washington.
• Senior, Taylor Cotton picked up Pitcher of the Week honors March 7 after recording a pair of wins at the San Diego Classic, including throwing a no-hitter against Miami (Ohio).
• Junior Alysha Everett had a career day again at UW last Sunday, going 2-for-4 from the dish and driving five RBIs to match her career-high in a 10-8 loss.
• This weekend will be the seventh ranked opponent the Beavers will face this season, including the sixth straight weekend playing such opponent.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS
• The Bruins are 28-10 overall and 4-5 in the Pac-12 after winning the series against then-ranked No. 1 and undefeated Oregon.
• UCLA handed the Ducks their first loss of the year - a shutout - with a 2-0 victory, which also snapped Oregon's 35-game winning streak.
• The Bruins took the series in walk-off fashion in game two as a passed ball allowed a run to score in the bottom of the ninth inning.
• UCLA is ranked No. 8 in the NFCA/USA Today poll and No. 9 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll this week. The Bruines started as the Pac-12 leader in preseason polls ranked at No. 8 in both.
• Entering the week, the Bruins boast the nations seventh highest home runs per game with 1.13 and 17th highest in slugging percentage with a .501 mark.
• Freshman Rachel Garcia earned Pac-12 Pitcher and Freshman of the Weeks honor after not allowing a run in her two wins against Oregon. It is the second time she received both honors. Garcia also earned USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week honors.
• Junior Kylee Perez leads the Pac-12 and ranks 29th in the nation with 52 hits.
• Head coach for the Bruins is Kelly Inouye-Perez in her 11th season.

SERIES HISTORY
• UCLA holds a 96-13 all-time record against Oregon State.
• The Beavers picked up a 8-2 victory last season in LA when the Bruins were ranked No. 13.
• The Beavers' 2016 win against then-ranked No. 13 UCLA snapped a two season sweep skid.
• The last time Oregon State won the series was in 2012 when UCLA was ranked No. 14.
• Oregon State will play a ranked UCLA team for the 15th straight season dating back to 2003. UCLA is joined by Washington, California and Arizona with all such stat.

HAMPTON SETS RBI RECORD
• Redshirt senior Natalie Hampton knocked a RBI-single in the 2-1 victory over No. 10 Washington on April 8, to record her 144th run batted in.
• She pasted Terrah Beyster (1997-00) who held the record for over a decade.
• Hampton set the single season RBI record as a freshman with 50, and matched it again during her redshirt junior season.

COTTON PITCHER OF THE WEEK
• Senior Taylor Cotton was named the Pitcher of the Week on March 7, after recording a pair of wins at the San Diego Classic.
• Cotton recorded her first career no-hitter against Miami (Ohio) and another shutout against San Diego over the weekend.
• She finished with a 0.86 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.

FOLLOW BERG
• Head coach Laura Berg is in her fifth season.
• Has guided the Beavers to two NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Holds a 127-118-1 overall record and 30-72 in Pac-12 games.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE
• Sammi Noland has been named a "Swiss Army Knife" by head coach Laura Berg for the many different positions she has started.
• The red-shirt senior has started in five different positions in her three years as a Beaver.
• The transfer from Nebraska has started at third, short and second so far this season. In the past, she started games in right field and catcher.
• Even though she has played five positions, she has only committed nine errors in her career.

CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE
• The Oregon State softball team got things done off the field and in the classroom during the fall and winter terms.
• The Beavers recorded a team GPA of 3.12 over the fall, including 13 student-athletes with a 3.0 GPA or better.
• During the most recent winter term, the team finished with a 3.10 GPA and 12 student-athletes above a 3.0.

COTTON SHRINKS ERA
• Lefty-pitcher Taylor Cotton has done some major shrinking to here ERA over her college career.
• The senior started her career playing for Cal and posting a 8.54 ERA in 13 appearances before transferring.
• Since at OSU, she has improved her average from a 7.52 as a sophomore to a 6.30 as a junior.
• This season she has carrying a 2.24 ERA and a 7-4 record. She has pitched more innings in 2017 than she did total her first three years in the circle.

COME ON BACK
• Head coach Laura Berg hung up her cleats after nearly 20-years of softball and spent a year with the LAPD in 2010-11 before returning to the game as an assistant coach for the 2012 season at Oregon State.
• Associate head coach Marcia Green also has experience with law enforcement. Green studied criminology at Fresno State and spend five years as a prison guard at Corcoran State Prison in California following graduation before starting coaching.
• Assistant coach Emily Freidman finished her pro-softball career in 2010 and turned to CrossFit. She rose up the ranks quickly in the sport and became one of the top female athletes in the world from 2012-14.

BERG NAMED HEAD COACH OF JWNT
• Head coach Laura Berg will continue her legacy with the USA National Softball team, but this time with the junior team.
• Head coach Berg will be the leader of the 2017 Junior Women's National Team and will lead the 17-player roster this summer.
• Berg has prior experience with the juniors, being an assistant coach in 2012. Since then, she has had her hand in helping train the national team.
• Coach Berg will see a first look this summer at UCLA commits Holly Azevedo, Maddy Nickles and Briana Perez as they are all part of the JWNT.

For more information on the Oregon State softball team, follow the team's official Twitter and Instagram accounts at @BeaverSoftball or by Facebook at /BeaverSoftball.

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Cotton

Alysha Everett

Natalie Hampton

Sammi Noland