Softball Hosts a Doubleheader with Portland State
April 14, 1998
THIS WEEK'S ACTION: The No. 21 ranked Oregon State softball team (22-13, 5-5) will take a break from Pac-10 play when it hosts a doubleheader with Portland State on Wednesday, April 15 at 3:00 p.m. OSU will then head on the road for the first time since Pac-10 play started for doubleheaders at Washington and UCLA. The Beavers will face the No. 4 Huskies (30-7, 7-3) in Seattle at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 18 before heading down to Los Angeles for a 1:00 p.m. twinbill with UCLA (11-14, 1-7) on Sunday, April 19.
A LOOK AT OREGON STATE: The Beavers are riding a three-game winning streak, their third longest of the season. The Oregon State offense is led by two players hitting above .300 -- sophomore Tarrah Beyster (.397 avg., 22 RBI, 8 HR) and junior Jodi Chmielewski (.319 avg., 14 RBI, 15 runs). Beyster leads the Beavers with a .435 average in Pac-10 games only, followed by junior Courtney Stewart, who is hitting .313 against league opponents. On the mound, Beyster leads the Beavers with a 1.18 ERA to go along with her 18-7 record.
BEYSTER BOTH PITCHER, PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore Tarrah Beyster was named both the Pac-10 Softball Pitcher and Player of the Week after leading OSU to a doubleheader sweep of No. 17 Oregon on April 11. She becomes the first student-athlete to claim both honors in the same week since former UCLA All-American and U.S. Olympian Lisa Fernandez did so in 1993. Beyster hit .800 in the two games, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, two runs scored and three RBI. On the mound, she was 2-0 with two complete games. She struck out 20 batters, including 14 in the first game - just one shy of her career high. Oregon, which was hitting .308 as team entering the two games, was limited to just a .212 average with Beyster on the mound. The Player of the Week honor is her second this season and third for her career; the Pitcher of the Week honor is the first of her career. It is the fourth league honor for OSU this season; in addition to Beyster's three honors, junior Jodi Chmielewski earned Pac-10 recognition on March 10.
BEAVER BATS READY FOR MUCH-NEEDED BREAK: Portland State will be the first unranked team the Beavers have played since March 7. OSU's last 18 games (from March 8 to April 11) have been against Top 25 teams, and that top competition has taken its toll on the Beavers. OSU went 8-10 in those games and hit just .231 as a team, compared with a .310 average in games against unranked opponents when five players hitting .359 or higher, led by freshman Jenni Jodoin's .438 average. Only sophomore Tarrah Beyster hit above .300 in the 18-straight games against ranked opponents, as she came away with a .432 average with 14 RBI and six home runs in those 18 games. OSU is hitting .255 as a team on the season.
A LOOK AT THE VIKINGS: Portland State heads into Corvallis with a 21-16 record. The Vikings are currently riding a five-game winning streak, highlighted by a 9-6 upset victory over No. 17 Oregon on April 8 to start the streak. Shannon Rondeau leads the squad with a .417 average, while Alicia Russell is at .330. The Vikings are in the first of a two-year compliance period with the NCAA to make the jump from Division II to Division I and are playing a schedule similar to those while competing at the Division II level.
LAST WEEK'S ACTION: Oregon State captured its first Pac-10 sweep of the season after taking two from No. 17 Oregon on April 11. The Beavers won the opener, 6-2, thanks to home runs from sophomores Tarrah Beyster and Kelli Kranz, as well as superb pitching from Beyster, who just missed her career high when she struck out 14 Ducks, one shy of her career best 15 in a game against Portland State last year. Oregon State won the second game, 4-1, again in part to Beyster's second homer of the day. In all, the Beavers had 18 hits on the day, led by Beyster and junior Jodi Chmielewski, who had four hits apiece on the day. Junior Courtney Stewart finished with three hits, while three other Beavers had two hits.
A LOOK AT WASHINGTON: The No. 4 Huskies (30-7, 7-3) have won nine of their last 10 games, with the only loss coming at the hands of No. 1 Arizona. Rosie Leutzinger leads Washington offensively with her .371 average and 23 runs, while Eve Gaw is second at .351 with 20 RBI. Jamie Graves, last week's National Player of the Week, leads the pitching staff with a 0.69 ERA and 13-2 record.
A LOOK AT UCLA: The Bruins are 11-14 overall and 1-7 in Pac-10 play. However, they are redshirting several returning players as UCLA is on probation this season and is ineligible for NCAA postseason play. Kim Wuest is hitting .444 to go along with 15 runs, 20 RBI and nine home runs, all team highs. Stephanie Swenson leads the pitchers with a 1.58 ERA in 71 innings of work.
THEY'VE GOT THREE, LET'S SHOOT FOR FOUR: Two players will be looking to homer for the fourth consecutive game when the Beavers meet Portland State on Wednesday. OSU sophomore Tarrah Beyster has hit a home run in each of Oregon State's last three games to lift her team-leading total to eight roundtrippers. Oregon State is 5-2 in games when Beyster hits a home run. Portland State's Alicia Russell also will be looking to keep her streak alive as she has homered in PSU's last three games as well.
BEAVERS HIT TWO FOR FIFTH TIME: Sophomores Tarrah Beyster and Kelli Kranz both hit home runs in OSU's 6-2 win over Oregon on April 11. It was just the fifth time in the program's history that OSU has hit two homers in one game, but the third time this season. Oregon State set a school record when it hit three roundtrippers against Florida on March 19, and the Beavers also hit two in a 4-3 win over Cal on April 5. The Beavers hit two home runs in a game against Santa Clara last year and also hit two against Wichita State in 1994.
DON'T THINK ABOUT STRIKING HER OUT: Junior Jodi Chmielewski, who struck out 16 times last season, has gone down on strikes just four times in 116 at-bats (one in every 29 at-bats) this year as the Beavers' toughest to strikeout. Junior Courtney Stewart has fanned only once in 36 at-bats, while sophomore Parisa Plant strikes out an average of just once in 18 at-bats.
BEYSTER NEARING CENTURY MARK: Sophomore Tarrah Beyster collected four hits in a doubleheader against Oregon on April 11 to lift her career hit total to 97. With three more hits, Beyster will become the 10th Oregon State player to reach the 100-hit milestone. Junior Jodi Chmielewski became the ninth Beaver to reach the milestone earlier this season and currently is tied for fourth all-time with 135 hits.
RECORD BOOK HAS BEYSTER WRITTEN ALL OVER IT: Sophomore Tarrah Beyster is climbing up the charts in nearly every single-season and career record at Oregon State, and she hasn't even been here for two full seasons yet. The All-American needs just two more wins this season to become the first ever Beaver pitcher to record 20 wins in one year. Beyster has 18 so far and needs just one more to tie Joan Harvey's single-season record of 19 set in 1984. Beyster is also fourth in career wins (33), career shutouts (11) and career strikeouts (274). Her 145 Ks last season were second on the single-season strikeout list, and her 129 Ks so far this season are fourth on that same list. Offensively, she already holds OSU's career home run record (20), is third on the career RBI chart (57) and second in career bases on balls (72). Last year, she set the single-season RBI mark (35) and has 22 so far this season to rank sixth on the single-season chart.
INJURY REPORT: Senior second baseman Denise Brown is still questionable for this week's games after suffering a bicep injury in practice on April 3. She has not played since then and will likely not play against Portland State, but could see some action against Washington on April 18. Junior Heather Chinn, who broke the ring finger on her right hand in the second game against Stanford on April 4, has not participated in any games other than as a pinch runner since the injury should be able play this week.
STEWART STEPS UP: Junior Courtney Stewart went 3-for-6 with a double, two RBI and a run scored against Oregon on April 11. The double was her second in two weeks after never having an extra-base hit before then. Since the start of Pac-10 play, Stewart has hit .313, going 5-for-16 in eight games played. Her .313 average in conference games is second on the squad.
HEAD COACH KIRK WALKER: Kirk Walker is in his fourth season as head coach of the Oregon State softball program. His 1997 squad compiled a 29-34-1 record, and those 29 wins were third most in school history and the most since 1984. His overall record at Oregon State stands at 79-125-1. With those 79 wins, Walker is the second winningest softball coach at OSU. Ellen Margolis led the Beavers to 145 wins from 1981-85. Walker came to OSU from UCLA, where he spent 11 years as a manager and assistant coach.
BEAVERS SHOOTING FOR CAREER DOUBLES RECORD: Two juniors are looking to break Oregon State's career doubles record. Jodi Chmielewski has 20 career doubles and needs just one more to share the No. 1 spot with Andrea Talcott (1991-95), while Kim Herman ranks fifth with 16. Chmielewski has three doubles this season but none since March 1, while Herman's only two-base hit this season came against Simon Fraser on February 13. Sophomores Tarrah Beyster and Parisa Plant both have hit 10 doubles in their first two seasons as Beavers.
OREGON STATE AND THE TOP 25 POLL: Oregon State is ranked No. 21 in the April 8 USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll. Thirteen of OSU's 1998 opponents -- including six Pac-10 teams -- are currently ranked, and an additional four opponents earned votes. OSU is 12-11 against teams that are or have been ranked in 1998. The Pac-10 remains the nation's premiere softball conference, with seven Top 25 teams. The Big 12 is second with six ranked teams. Polls are released each Wednesday morning.
