Oregon State Softball Resumes Pac-12 Play at Arizona

REWIND

• Oregon State played two nonconference series last weekend splitting the games 2-2

• The Beavers took a doubleheader from Portland State, and dropped two games to No. 2 Oklahoma

• The Beavers put on a show in the first game of the week against PSU ending the game in 1 hour and 5 minutes, the shortest in OSU history

• All but two starters registered a hit in the game, with Shelby Weeks and Jessica Garcia leading with two hits each

• Garcia had a team high four RBI in game one

• McKenna Arriola batted in three runs of her own going 1-for-2 with 3 RBI

• Michelle Sass, Kayleen Shafer and Weeks all had two runs scored

• The Beavers put up four runs in the second inning and again in the third inning

• Meehra Nelson earned her team-leading 13th win of the season, pitching her fourth shutout this season

• Game two against Portland State was a tighter affair, as Oregon State won on a walk-off home run, 2-1

• Hope Brandner drove in the game's first run with an RBI single in the third inning

• Portland State tied things up in the fifth with a solo home run, but Shafer had the last laugh as she hit her first home run of the season in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh

• Alysha Everett led with two hits in the game

• Nerissa Eason improved to 2-0 with her second complete game this season

• Eason gave up just one earned run while striking out five, a season high

•Following the midweek series the Beavers welcomed the 2nd-ranked Sooners of Oklahoma to town

• The Beavers fell in game one 4-0, before dropping the second game 8-0

• Oregon State put up five hits in the first game, led by two from Garcia

• Arriola, Brandner and Sass each had one hit

• Mariah Mazon started in the circle for the Beavers going 6.0 innings with five Ks

• In game two, Weeks and Garcia led with two hits, while Missy Nunes had one

UPCOMING

• The Beavers resume Pacific-12 Conference action this weekend in Tucson at the University of Arizona

• Oregon State battles No. 10/11 Arizona (31-13, 8-10) in a three-game series beginning on Friday and ending Sunday

• Arizona leads the all-time series 99-16 over Oregon State

• The Beavers last victory in the series came on May 7, 2016 in a 2-1 win

• The Wildcats enter the weekend having taken two of three games at No. 8 Arizona State their last time out

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday, April 27

No. RV Oregon State at No. 10/11 Arizona - 6 p.m.

Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium, Tucson, Ariz.

Saturday, April 28

No. RV Oregon State at No. 10/11 Arizona - 6 p.m.

Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium, Tucson, Ariz.

Sunday, April 29

No. RV Oregon State at No. 10/11 Arizona - 12 p.m.

Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium, Tucson, Ariz.

FOLLOW THE BEAVS

• Oregon State's contests this weekend will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks; live stats will be available through Statbroadcast.com

• Links to live stats and video will be available on softball schedule page at OSUBeavers.com

BEAVERS IMPRESSIONS

• Upperclassmen lead the way as McKenna Arriola, Alysha Everett and Jessica Garcia have started every game so far in 2018, with Meehra Nelson and Mariah Mazon anchoring the rotation

• Shelby Weeks has started in every game they have appeared in (40)

• Catcher Kayleen Shafer has made 42 starts in 43 appearances

• Camryn Ybarra has played in 43 games as a true freshman and started 42 of those. She hit her first career homerun at No. 4 UCLA on March. 26 and followed that up in the next game with a solo shot against No. 2/5 Oregon

• Arriola has showcased her speed on the base paths with the fifth-most stolen bases in the Pac-12 (14); she also leads the team with 10 doubles, good enough for 10th in the Pac-12

• Weeks is still the only Beaver to reach every base from the batter's box, with 31 hits, three doubles, a triple and two home runs in 2018

• Garcia has started every game in center field but one and holds a team-high in hits with 43

• Missy Nunes has started all 45 games at third base as a freshman, and is one of only two Beavers to start in every game (45) at the same position (Arriola, SS)

• Freshman Hope Brandner leads the Beavers in multiple categories: Home Runs (9), Slugging Percentage (.524), RBI (28) and Fielding Percentage (.993)

• Brandner holds the season-long hitting streak for the Beavers at 11 games; which ended last weekend against Oklahoma

• Brandner also holds the most multiple RBI games this season with 6; 2 RBI (1), 3 RBI (2), 4 RBI (3)

• Nelson owns 357 career strikeouts with 93 on the year so far

• Five true freshman have seen extended action on the field for Oregon State, one of which has started in every game

• Meehra Nelson has pitched her way to the top of the rotation for the Beavers, Nelson leads OSU in ERA (2.23), Wins (13), Shutouts (4), Earned Runs (34), Opposing Batting Average (.225)

• Mazon has begun to blossom into her role in the circle grabbing a win against a top-10 opponent (Arizona State), and nearly a second in her next start

• Mazon has brought her ERA down to 2.35 and leads OSU in Appearances (28), Starts (18), Complete Games (14), Saves (4), Innings Pitched (151.2), Strikeouts (112)

• Mazon set the Oregon State record for innings pitched in a single game on April 8th against Arizona State (15.0 IP), breaking a 33 year old record set back in 1985

• Freshman Nunes has played a pivotal role in her inaugural season; Nunes is batting .280 with the second-most doubles on the team (8), second-most home runs (6) and second-best slugging percentage (.488)

• Nunes won her first Pac-12 Conference weekly honor following a breakout weekend at Stanford on April 13-15. She batted .889 going 8-for-9 at the plate. She had two doubles, two home runs, seven RBI and slugged for 1.778 with no strikeouts

• Ybarra has started 42 games at second base and is hitting .198 with nine walks, twelve RBI, 10 runs scored, two doubles and two home runs

• Kayleen Shafer has started 42 games behind the plate and has already thrown out a conference-leading 11 runners attempting to steal

• Shafer threw out eight base runners as a sophomore in 2017 and gunned down nine as a freshman in 2016

• Michelle Sass has seen time split between right field, second base, and most recently left field; Sass is batting .263 with 16 runs scored, two doubles, two homers and nine RBI

• OSU is ranked No. 21 in the RPI; last week the Beavers sat at 15th

• The Beavers improve to 7-16 versus ranked opponents this season with wins against Oklahoma State, California, BYU, and Oregon, and Arizona State

• OSU beat rival Oregon for the first time since March of 2012 with a thrilling 4-3 walk-off win on March 30th.

• Recently, Laura Berg was named a head coach for the USA Softball Women's National Team for the summer of 2018. Berg previously spent the summer as the head coach for the US Junior Women's National Team

2018 SCHEDULE NOTES
• The non-conference portion of Oregon State's 2018 schedule features a gauntlet of games over the course of five tournaments and four non-conference games
• OSU opens the year with the Kajikawa Classic where four opponents made an appearance in the 2017 NCAA Regionals: Oklahoma State, BYU, Georgia and Missouri
• The Purple and Gold Challenge in Baton Rouge, La., features 2017 WCWS participant LSU along with 2017 NCAA Regional foe Louisiana Tech
• The Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic has 2017 NCAA Super Regional foes Tennessee and Auburn along with Oklahoma State again
• The San Diego Classic features 2017 NCAA Regional participant Minnesota, while OSU wraps up the non-conference schedule against 2017 defending national champion Oklahoma
• The conference portion features seven opponents that made varying finishes in the 2017 NCAA Tournament
• Cal and Arizona State both made the regionals
• Arizona and Utah both ended 2017 in the super regionals
• Oregon, UCLA and Washington all made the WCWS
• In total, Oregon State will face 17 opponents from the 2017 NCAA Tournament
• 22 opponents had a top-100 RPI in 2017, 16 opponents had a top-50 RPI, 13 had a top-25 RPI, and six had a top-10 RPI
• 17 opponents were ranked at some point in either the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll or the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll in 2017
• Currently, 14 of Oregon State's opponents are ranked inside the top-25 of the NCAA RPI
• Eight of those 14 teams are inside the top-10, with Oregon State having played three of the top six already and a series still to come with (3) Washington
• Oregon State currently ranks No. 2 in Strength of Schedule in the NCAA
• The Beavers have:
- 1 Win vs. Top 5
- 2 Wins vs. Top 10
- 7 Wins vs. Top 25
- 23 Games vs. Top 25 Opponents

FOLLOW BERG
• Head coach Laura Berg is in her sixth season.
• Has guided OSU to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Holds a 161-145-1 overall record and 44-88 in Pac-12 games

SOCIAL MEDIA
• Follow the Oregon State softball team on Twitter and Instagram at @BeaverSoftball and Facebook at /BeaverSoftball.

WORKING UP THE RECORD BOOK
• A number of Beavers have made their way into the Oregon State record books in various categories.
• Meehra Nelson had a record breaking freshman year, as she set the single-season saves record with seven and ranks fifth all-time in saves through three seasons
• McKenna Arriola is working up the ranks as she is fifth all-time in runs scored with 141
• Both Arriola and Shelby Weeks rank in the top 10 list for career batting average at OSU with at least two seasons played
• Weeks sits sixth with a .333 career batting average, while Arriola is hitting .316 through four seasons in the Orange and Black, good for eighth all-time

Next Event

Players Mentioned

McKenna Arriola

Hope Brandner

Nerissa Eason

Alysha Everett

Jessica Garcia

Mariah Mazon

Meehra Nelson

Missy Nunes

Michelle Sass

Kayleen Shafer

Shelby Weeks

Camryn Ybarra