Oregon State
7-3
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Mississippi State
10-1
Berg Earns Win No. 200 as Beavers Split Day One Action
February 20, 2020 | Softball
Cathedral City, Calif. – Oregon State head coach Laura Berg earned her 200th career victory, all while at OSU, as RV/RV Oregon State (8-3) split games on day one of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Thursday in Cathedral City, Calif.
Vs. RV/24 Mississippi State
The day started with a full-out pitchers dual between OSU's Mariah Mazon (4-3) and Mississippi State's Grace Fagan. Between the two, there were only five hits allowed (Mazon – two; Fagan – three).
The Beavers tried to get the jump on the Dawgs in the bottom of the first inning when freshman Xiao Gin got hit by a pitch and junior Missy Nunes followed with a double into right center. Both advanced to third and second, but OSU left them stranded to end the inning.
MSU put themselves in a position to strike in the second inning after leading off with a single. They put two runners on off an OSU fielding error shortly after. With runners on first and second, Gin and freshman Grace Messmer looked to turn a double play to end the inning but were only able to get the runner heading to second. Mazon got the Beavers out of the inning with a strikeout though to eliminate the potential run scoring.
Things remained quiet on both sides offensively for both teams through the third with Mazon picking up two strikeouts in the top half of the inning.
Mississippi State eventually scored with a solo-home run over the left-field fence to take the lead, 1-0.
Sophomore Maia Rader attempted to spark a rally for OSU in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out double into center field, but Oregon State couldn't get anything else going.
MSU brought in a relief pitcher in during the sixth inning to close things out and hold OSU scoreless.
Mazon finished with seven strikeouts and zero walks in 7.0 innings of work as the Beavers fell, 1-0.
Vs. Idaho State
Oregon State got off to a slow start in the second game of the day as Idaho State hit a solo-homer over the left-field fence in the top of the first inning against grad-student Trystan Melancon.
The Beavers started the second inning with hopes of evening the score that started with Messmer hitting a single into center field and freshman Val Pero reaching on an error to get two batters on, unfortunately, OSU wasn't able to capitalize on them.
Idaho State extended the lead in the third after a batter got a double followed by another player hitting a single down the right-field line.
OSU didn't let ISU hold onto the 2-0 lead for long as sophomore Ashton Phillips ignited a third inning rally when she hit a single into left field. Rader followed with a fielder's choice. Phillips reached second off a bad throw by the shortstop. Gin laid down a bunt to load the bases for Nunes to hit a single into left center allowing Phillips to score.
Oregon State had the bases loaded with only one out and trailed, 2-1, as Messmer hit a single into right center scoring both Rader and Gin. Nunes reached third easily and was able to head home and score as Messmer moved to second off a miscued throw by the center fielder. The Beavers finished the third inning scoring four runs and taking the lead, 4-2.
It looked like Idaho State was going to make a comeback in the fourth after getting a couple baserunners on, but Melancon stepped up to get two strikeouts in the inning to keep them off the board.
OSU went to work again in the bottom half of the inning started by Phillips and Rader hitting back-to-back singles into left field. Gin came up with a RBI single up the middle to score Phillips and advance Rader to third. Gin easily stole second to put runners on second and third for Nunes to hit a two-RBI double over the right-fielder's head. Nunes advanced to third following a ground out by Mazon and eventually scored off a failed pick-off attempt. After scoring four in the fourth, OSU took an 8-2 lead into the fifth.
Idaho State hit another solo homer in the top half of the inning, but OSU was able to put a cap on any type of comeback ISU was going to make to seal the victory and Coach Berg's 200th win, 8-3.
Melancon struck out six batters through 5.0 innings of work to improve to 4-0 on the season. Gin made her first appearance in the circle as a Beaver and picked up two strikeouts through 2.0 innings of work and her first collegiate save.
Up Next:
Oregon State is back in action tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. against No. 18/19 Missouri.
For more information on the Oregon State softball team, visit OSUBeavers.com or follow the team @BeaverSoftball on Twitter and Instagram.
OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Grace Fagan (4-1)
L: Mazon, Mariah (4-3)
S: Emily Williams (3)
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Batting:
HR: Chloe Malau'ulu 1
RBI: Chloe Malau'ulu 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Chloe Malau'ulu 1
Batting:
2B: Nunes, Missy 1 ; Rader, Maia 1
Base Running:
CS: Rader, Maia 1
HBP: Gin, Xiao 1
