OSU to Make Pac-12 Tournament Debut

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Oregon State softball team will make its debut in the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament tomorrow afternoon with a quarterfinal matchup against the fifth-ranked Washington Huskies.

First pitch between the Beavers and Huskies is set for 12:30 p.m. PT from Arizona's Hillenbrand Stadium.

TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK:
• Laura Berg's squad will venture back south to Tucson for the second time in three weeks.
• Oregon State
• The Beavers clinched the final series of the regular season after a 3-2 win on senior day against Arizona State.

QUARTERFINAL MATCHUP
• For the fourth time this season, Oregon State will meet Washington but with a trip to the Pac-12 semifinals on the line.
• Oregon State took the finale in the regular season - an 11-1 romp - back on April 16.
• Frankie Hammoude drove in six runs - including four in an inning - to lead OSU. The Beavers stifled the UW arms when they accounted for nine hits and took five free trips to first base.
• In the middle game, #9 Washington foiled an upset bid when they plated a pair of runs in the seventh to take the series with a 3-2 win.
• The Huskies kept the Beavs off the scoreboard in the series opener back on April 14.

ARIZONA STATE LOOKBACK:
• After dropping the series opener in a shortened contest, the Beavs roared back to take the next two and clinch the series.
• Des Rivera's three RBI helped power OSU to a 3-2 win to force the rubber match.
• Ellie Garcia fanned eight across 4.0 frames to limit the Sun Devil offense and help the Beavs win the series.
• Oregon State did not lose a final game in each of the four series at home. A time-limit ended the finale in the opening series against California and then defeated Oregon, Washington and Arizona State.

ARIZONA APLENTY
• Including the Littlewood Classic back in February, OSU will play its ninth game in the state of Arizona.
• With a win, it would give the Beavers a 5-4 mark in the Grand Canyon State.
• They have split the last four against schools from the state.
              • Win over Grand Canyon (Feb. 19)
              • 1-2 in series at Arizona (April 28-30)
• Oregon State has won at each site where they have played in Arizona.
              • Tempe (Farrington Stadium)
              • Phoenix (GCU Softball Stadium)
              • Tucson (Hillenbrand Stadium)

HAMMOUDE, THE HOME RUN QUEEN
• Frankie Hammoude broke the school's record for home runs in a career with 53 after her shot to center in the finale over No. 9 Washington
• She broke Tarrah Beyster's mark of 52, which stood untouched since she graduated in 2000.
•The Oakland, Calif., native has slugged double-digit homers in each of her four full seasons in Corvallis: 11, 17, 15 and 10.
• She sits in first for homers in a season with 17, set in 2021. Not to be outdone, her 15 round-trippers in 2022 are the fourth most in a season.

FROM THE PLATE:
• Rivera is leading the Beavers with a .310 average at the dish but Grace Messmer is right behind with a .297 line.
• Abby Doerr - a newcomer for '23 - made noise for the Beavs by leading in home runs (11) and RBI (30). She also slugged three homers in Hillenbrand Stadium to close the month of April.
• Hammoude has added 10 home runs to her ledger for 2023 and drove in 26 runs.

FROM THE CIRCLE:
• Fresh off two wins against Arizona State, Ellie Garcia enters the postseason with 60 strikeouts, including a season-best of eight in the series finale.
• Tarni Stepto closed out her career at Kelly Field with eight Ks in her final home games. The Aussie has recorded 121 punchouts - a staff-best - this season across 27 appearances.

OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Abby Doerr

Ellie Garcia

Frankie Hammoude

Grace Messmer

Des Rivera

Tarni Stepto