Beavers Face Rival Oregon This Weekend

THE WEEKEND

• The Beavers will continue Pac-12 action this weekend at No. 6 Oregon for the annual Civil War presented by PacificSource Health Plans, Spirit Mountain Casino, Safeway/Albertsons and Your Local Toyota Dealers.

• Oregon State will face the Ducks in a three-game series starting on Friday night at 6:05 p.m.

• The two teams will also play Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m., and finish Sunday at 3:05 pm.

• The Civil War Series will be played at Jane Sanders Stadium.

• The series will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks with Ann Schatz and Danielle Lawrie serving as talent.

LOOKING AHEAD

• Following this weekend's action, the Beavers will return to Corvallis and close its home schedule facing Utah.

• The three-game series will start Friday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

• Game two is schedule to start at 1:00 p.m., on Saturday with the home finale on Sunday morning at 11 a.m.

• All three games will be played at the OSU Softball Complex.

BEAVERS AT A GLANCE

• The Beavers are 24-19 overall and 6-9 in league play after winning the series against Stanford last weekend for the fourth straight season.

• Oregon State run-ruled No. 8/9 UCLA and a top-10 league opponent for the first time in program history in game one of the series on April 13.

• Natalie Hampton hit a 3-run walk-off against No. 8/9 UCLA in game three of the series to secure the series win for the first time in history.

• Redshirt senior, Natalie Hampton set the school RBI record with a RBI single in game two of the series at No. 10 Washington on April 8.

• Junior, Alysha Everett earned Player of the Week honors April 17 after totaling seven RBIs in the series against the Bruins including four in the run-rule victory in game one.

• 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).

• This weekend will be the eighth ranked opponent the Beavers will face this season.

• OSU is ranked No. 47 in the RPI this week.

• Alysha Everett ranks 69th in the nation in toughest to strikeout with a 20.7 mark. She has struck out just six times in 124 at bats this season.

SCOUTING THE DUCKS

• The Ducks are 38-6 overall and 11-6 in the Pac-12 entering this weekend's series.

• Oregon is ranked No. 6 in both the NFCA/USA Today and the ESPN.com/USA Softball polls this week. The Ducks started as the second highest in the Pac-12 in the preseason polls ranked at No. 9 in both.

• The Ducks lost its third Pac-12 series last weekend to No. 3 Arizona in Tucson. Oregon also dropped the previous two series against No. 12 Washington and No. 9 UCLA.

• Oregon has run-ruled its opponent 13 times this season, including games against both California and Utah in Pac-12 play.

• Senior Nikki Udria has gotten on base every game but one this season. She carries a 38-game on-base streak into the series.

• Udria was taken with the 18th overall pick in the fourth round of the NPF Draft on Monday night by the Scrap Yard Dawgs.

• Senior Danica Mercado and sophomore Alexis Mack both are in the top 10 in the Pac-12 in stolen bases with Mercado leading with 19.

• Freshman Maggie Balint leads the Ducks in the circle with a 1.07 ERA and a 16-3 record. She ranks second in the Pac-12 in ERA and 11th in the nation.

• Oregon is batting .325, which ranks 10th in the nation, while its 1.45 ERA and .424 on-base percentage are ninth.

• Head coach for the Ducks is Mike White in his 8th season.

SERIES HISTORY

• Oregon holds a 97-83-1 all-time record against Oregon State.

• The Beavers have lost the last 12 games in the series, with their last win coming back on March 26, 2012 in Corvallis.

• The last time Oregon State won the series was in 2012 in Corvallis. After dropping the first game 8-2, the Beavs rebounded with a 5-4 win in eight innings in game two before a 7-1 win in game three.

• The last time the Beavers won in Eugene was on April 11, 2009.

• Head coach Laura Berg is looking for her first win against the Ducks.

• This is the eighth straight season the Beavers will play a ranked Ducks team dating back to 2010.

EVERETT NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Junior Alysha Everett was named the Player of the Week on April 17, after totaling seven RBIs in the series win over UCLA.

• She hit a series-high four RBIs in the run-rule win in game one.

• Everett finished the series hitting .625 and slugging 1.125% as the designated player.

• Her seven RBIs in the series brought her April total to 19 runs batted in. She currently has 22 RBIs entering the series with UO.

• Everett leads the team with a .613 slugging mark, 40 RBIs and nine doubles.

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 EARNS 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.

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 in her career.

• The red-shirt senior has started in five different positions in her three years as a Beaver.

• The transfer from Nebraska has started at 3B, SS and 2B so far this season. In the past, she started games in RF and catcher.

• Even though she has played five positions, she has only committed 10 errors in 99 games.

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 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 at 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 is carrying a 2.36 ERA and an 10-5 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 helped train the national team.

• Coach Berg will see a first look this summer at Oregon commit Mary Iakopo as she is part of the JWNT.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

• The 2016 season marked the second time the Beavers reached the NCAA Tournament under the direction of head coach Laura Berg, as well as the 11th time in program history.

• Oregon State last reached the NCAAs in 2013, Berg's first year as head coach.

• The Beavers also reached the tournament in Berg's first year as an assistant coach in 2012. Before 2012, OSU had not reached the tournament since 2007.

• Berg and former head coach Kirk Walker (1995-2012) are the only head coaches in program history to reach the NCAA.

Tournament.

FOLLOW BERG

• Head coach Laura Berg is in her fifth season.

• Has guided the Beavers to two NCAA Tournament appearances.

• Holds a 132-120-1 overall record and 34-74 in Pac-12 games.

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