Softball to Compete at Paradise Classic in Hawaii
February 9, 1999
THIS WEEK: Oregon State (1-0) heads to the islands to participate in the Paradise Classic at the University of Hawaii from February 11-14. The tournament begins as a six-team round robin, with a seeded single-elimination tourney set up after the round robin. OSU kicks off the Classic with a 4:00 p.m. (PST) game against Baylor on Thursday. The Beavers play Ohio State at 10:00 a.m. (PST) and Cal State Fullerton at noon (PST) on Friday, and Saturday's action pits OSU against Loyola Marymount at 4:00 p.m. (PST) and No. 17 Hawaii at 6:00 p.m. (PST). Single-elimination bracket play will take place Sunday.
SERIES RECORDS: Oregon State has a winning record against three of the five teams in the tournament. OSU is 1-0 against Baylor, 2-0 against Ohio State and 6-3 against Loyola Marymount. The series between the Beavers and Hawaii is tied at 2-2. Cal State Fullerton is the only team with a winning record against OSU, with the Titans leading the series 5-1.
A LOOK AT THE FIELD: Only Oregon State (1-0) and Loyola Marymount (4-0) have played games this season. Hawaii finished 46-15 last year, including a 1-1 mark against OSU, and earned a spot at the NCAA Regionals. Ohio State posted a 33-23 mark a year ago, Baylor went 20-36-1, and Cal State Fullerton finished at 32-29 in 1998.
RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY: Oregon State was scheduled to play four games in San Jose, Calif., last week, but rain cancelled three of them. The Beavers opened the Spartan Early Bird Tournament with a 7-2 win over host San Jose State, but OSU's two games with Pacific and another game with the Spartans were rained out. The games will not be rescheduled.
BEYSTER READY TO BREAK ANOTHER RECORD: Junior All-American Tarrah Beyster collected two RBI in OSU's win over San Jose State to push her career RBI total to 66, just one shy of tying Melinda Farm (1976-79) for the school record for career RBI. Beyster also has struck out 323 batters in her career; with three more she will be tied for second in career strikeouts and with 32 more she will tie the record. Beyster already holds OSU's career records for home runs (24) and bases on balls (97). She also holds five single-season school records.
CHMIELEWSKI MOVES INTO ELITE GROUP: Senior Jodi Chmielewski became just the third Beaver to record 150 career hits when she had three hits in OSU's win over San Jose State. Those three hits give her 152 for her career, which ranks second all-time at OSU. She needs nine more to tie Amy Warner (1994-97) for the school record of 161 career hits. Chmielewski is already OSU's career doubles leader (22).
TOUGH SCHEDULE IN STORE FOR BEAVERS: When OSU meets No. 17 Hawaii later this week, it will mark the first of many ranked opponents in store for the Beavers this season. Oregon State's 1999 schedule features 12 of the 25 teams that are ranked in the USA Today/NFCA preseason top 25 poll, including No. 1 Fresno State, No. 2 Arizona, No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 Washington. In addition, four other opponents on the Beavers schedule this season received votes in the preseason poll. OSU, which was ranked as high as No. 12 last season, received seven votes in the preseason poll. Six Pacific-10 schools are ranked, more than any other conference. OSU was 13-24 against ranked teams last season.
RUTSCHMAN GETS FIRST EXTRA BASE HIT: Sophomore Brooke Rutschman had two hits, including a double, and was the only Beaver to score two runs in OSU's win over San Jose State last week. The double was her first collegiate extra base hit after picking up 20 hits, all singles, as a rookie last year.
HEAD COACH KIRK WALKER: Kirk Walker is entering his fifth season as head coach of the OSU softball program. His 1998 squad came closer to a winning record (27-28) than any other OSU team has since the '84 team finished 40-17. 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 OSU stands at 85-140-1 (37.8 percent), but 58-62-1 (47.9 percent) from 1997-99. His 85 wins make him the second all-time 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.
HOME SWEET HOME? Oregon State won't play a game at Ropes-Fetrow Field until March 29 -- at least 33 games into the season. The Beavers will host Simon Fraser in a 2:00 p.m. doubleheader on March 29 before hitting the road yet again. After the Simon Fraser games, OSU wont be back in action in Corvallis until April 17 against Washington.
LET'S GET TWO: Three Beavers had two or more hits in OSU's win at San Jose State. Jodi Chmielewski, who had three hits against the Spartans, led the Beavers with 15 multiple-hit games last year. Heather Chinn and Brooke Rutschman also had two hits against San Jose State. Tarrah Beyster, the only Beaver with multiple-RBI against San Jose State, had a team-high eight multiple-RBI games last year.
THREE NEWCOMERS SEE ACTION IN OPENING GAME: Sophomore Shawna Feldt, who transferred to OSU from Mississippi State, earned the starting shortstop job in the Beavers opening day game. She walked once and scored a run in her OSU debut. Two other newcomers -- freshmen Alicia Seymour and Michelle Chariton -- both entered the game as pinch runners; Seymour scored one run. The four other newcomers to the 1999 team did not see action.
PAC-10 REMAINS STRONG: Five of the eight Pac-10 softball teams have started their seasons, and the teams have a combined 14-1 record. The only blemish on that record is No. 4 Washington's 3-2 loss -- to No. 2 Arizona.
