Softball Opens Pac-10 Play At Arizona Schools
March 30, 2000
THIS WEEK: The No. 11 Oregon State softball team (26-6-1) brings a four-game winning streak into the start of Pacific-10 compeition. The Beavers open league play at No. 5 Arizona State (32-5) at 5 p.m. PST on Friday, March 31. OSU then heads down the road to Tucson, where the Beavers will take on No. 2 Arizona (36-3) at 5 p.m. PST on Saturday and 1 p.m. PST on Sunday. All dates are single games.
BEAVERS MOVE UP A SPOT TO NO. 11: OSU jumped one spot to No. 11 in the latest USA Today/NFCA top 25 polls. The Beavers had been ranked 12th the previous two weeks. OSU has been ranked 10th, 11th or 12th all season. All eight Paciifc-10 teams are ranked, and six of them are in the top 10. A total of nine of OSU's opponents are ranked in the latest top 25 poll, and an additional four opponents received votes in the rankings. Polls are released each Wednesday. The Beavers have played nine games against teams that were ranked at game time or are currently ranked. OSU is 6-3 in those games.
BEYSTER NAMED PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK AGAIN: Tarrah Beyster was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the second time this season when she was honored by the league on March 28. This time she received the honor after helping the Beavers to a second-place showing at the Bank of Hawaii Invitational in Honolulu from March 23-26. Beyster was named to the All-Tournament Team after batting .467 in seven games. She set a tournament record with four home runs and added nine RBI, five runs scored and seven walks. She hit her first career grand slam in OSU's win over Hawaii, a game in which she also recorded her 200th career hit. Beyster was also named Pac-10 Player of the Week on Feb. 29, after being named the MVP of the Troy Cox Classic. Beyster has now earned Pac-10 Player or Pitcher of the Week honors seven times in her career, she has been selected Pac-10 Player of the Week five times and Pitcher of the Week twice.
HOME SWEET HOME, SORT OF: After playing their first 32 games on the road, the Beavers finally played a home game for the first time this season when they hosted Southern Utah on March 28. But the Beavers still didn't get to play an entire game at home, as the contest against SUU was called after six innings on account of the rain. OSU's next home game is Friday, April 7 at 2 p.m. against No. 1 Washington.
HOMER HAPPY BEAVERS: Oregon State players have combined for a school-record 29 home runs in just 33 games this season - breaking the previous record of 27 home runs in 72 games last year. Ten players have already hit at least one home run this year, in 1999, just five players hit a home run. Tarrah Beyster leads the squad with 11 home runs this year, and Steph Adams, who ranks second on the team, hit her fifth homer in OSU's home opener against Southern Utah earlier this week. Jenni Jodoin is third with three, while Shawna Feldt, Parisa Plant and Shannon Sorg each have two. Crystal Draper, Shelly Prochaska, Cara Maxey and Jessica King have one apiece. Beyster, Maxey, Sorg and Jodoin have all hit one grand slam this season. Beyster is OSU's all-time leader for home runs with 47, and Jodoin is second with 12.
ADAMS ON AN OFFENSIVE TEAR AS OF LATE: While she is batting just .229 on the season, Steph Adams has been a key offensive threat for the Beavers in the last few games. The rookie is on a seven-game hitting streak and is batting .409 (9-for-22) during that span. Of those nine hits, four have been doubles and two were home runs. She also has seven RBI and has scored five times during the streak. For the year, she has just 24 hits in 105 at-bats, but two thirds of her hits have been for extra bases. She leads the Beavers with 10 doubles, is second with five home runs and has one of OSU's two triples. She's third on the team with 18 RBI and fourth with 15 runs scored.
WALKER OSU'S WINNINGEST COACH: Kirk Walker, in his sixth year as head coach at OSU, is Oregon State's all-time winningest softball coach. Walker's career record now stands at 156-171-2, and he recently picked up his 150th career win after OSU defeated UNLV, 3-0, at the Kia Klassic on March 16. Walker was named Pacific-10 Co-Coach of the Year in 1999, and the entire Beaver coaching staff was voted the Speedline Pacific Region Co-Coaching Staff of the Year that same season. He is the only coach in OSU history to lead the Beavers to three consecutive 27-win seasons, OSU had 29 wins in 1997, 27 in 1998 and 47 in 1999. He came to OSU from his alma mater UCLA, where he spent 11 years as a manager and assistant coach.
SERIES RECORDS: The Beavers are 14-47 all-time against Arizona State, although OSU is 9-13 against the Sun Devils since Kirk Walker took over the Beaver program. The two teams met earlier this season in non-conference action, with OSU coming away with a 3-2 win in eight innings. OSU is 7-54 all-time against Arizona, although the Beavers did defeat the Wildcats twice last season.
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS: Arizona State is 32-5 entering the start of Pac-10 play. The Sun Devils have won 12 of their last 13 games, with the only loss during that span coming against the Beavers. ASU is led by two-time Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week Kirsten Voak, who boasts a 21-2 record, a 0.61 ERA and a .396 batting average. Arizona dropped to 36-3 after splitting a doubleheader with New Mexico State earlier this week. Arizona's other two losses both came against No. 1 Washington. The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 274-27 this season and have won 18 games on the eight-run mercy rule. Arizona is batting .370 as a team, with six players batting above .350.
ROOKIES MAKING AN IMPACT EARLY ON: OSU's six freshmen have already made an impact at Oregon State early on in their careers. The rookies have accounted for 35 percent of the team's hits (89 of 254), 40 percent of the team's runs (67 of 169) and 36 percent of the team's RBI (52 of 146). The rookies also have 20 of OSU's 39 doubles and eight of the team's 24 home runs. Steph Adams leads the Beavers with 10 doubles, is second with five home runs, third for RBI (18) and fourth for hits (18) and runs (15). Brynnen Guthrie is second on the team with a .412 batting average, while Shelly Prochaska is fifth on the team with a .289 average.
BEAVERS SEE FOUR PLAYERS EARN ALL-TOURNEY HONORS LAST WEEK: Oregon State had a fairly successful outing at last week's Bank of Hawaii Invitational, where the Beavers placed second and had four players earn all-tournament honors. OSU went 5-2 at the tourney, losing both games to undefeated Tokyo Women's College of P.E. Tarrah Beyster, Brynnen Guthrie, Steph Adams and Crystal Draper all took home all-tournament team honors. Beyster set a tourney record with four home runs, Guthrie posted a tourney-best .692 batting average, Adams hit .333 and Draper went 3-0 with 22 strikeouts for the weekend.
BEAVERS MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOKS: Two Beavers are making their way up the OSU career record books for various categories. Tarrah Beyster has 38 hits this season, giving her 202 for her career - good for second all-time at OSU and 23 away from the record. She also has scored 21 runs this year, giving her 86 career runs to rank third all-time (12 away from the record). Beyster also picked up career save No. 8 this season, one away from tying the school's all-time record. Jenni Jodoin has 23 RBI this season, lifting her career numbers to 75, which ranks third all-time.
BEAVER PITCHERS `STRIKE' AGAIN: A year after setting an OSU record for strikeouts in a season, the Beaver pitchers are at it again with impressive strikeout numbers. The pitching duo of Tarrah Beyster and Crystal Draper has struck out 205 batters in 33 games, an average of 6.2 K's per seven innings. Draper leads the Beavers with 107 K's, while Beyster has 98. Draper's season-high for strikeouts in a gamecame against Utah State on Feb. 11 when she struck out 11 batters for her sixth career game with 10+ K's. Beyster's season-high is nine, twice. In addition, Beyster has walked just 17 batters this year, a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5.8:1. Beyster is OSU's career leader for strikeouts with 612, while Draper ranks fourth all-time at 324 and needs two more to move into third place.
RUTSCHMAN MOVES INTO TOP FIVE FOR STEALS: Junior Brooke Rutschman leads the Beavers with nine stolen bases in 11 tries this season, giving her 19 career stolen bases. That ranks fifth all-time at OSU, two away from tying for third place.She needs four more this season to tie OSU's single-season mark of 13 set back in 1985. Rutschman, who missed 16 games with a broken arm earlier this season, has started all 17 games she's played and is batting .389 on the year (third on the team). She has 21 hits this season and is eight away from recording her 100th career hit. She's had at least one hit in 16 of 17 games this season, highlighted by a career-best 13-game hitting streak. She's batting .389 on the year has scored 14 runs. She set a new OSU single-game record with four stolen bases against Utah State earlier this season. She also tied the school record for runs scored in a game with three against both Utah State and Utah this year.
BEAVERS JUMP AHEAD EARLY: OSU has a tendency to score its runs early in the game, as the Beavers have scored 97 of their 169 runs in the first three innings of their games. In fact, the Beavers have outscored their opponents, 72-12, in the first two innings. OSU has also shown it can score late and come from behind. The Beavers have played six extra inning games and are 4-2 in those contests. The Beavers are averaging more than two runs for every one by their opponent, outscoring the opposition, 169-80.
TWO OSU GAMES TO BE TELEVISED: Oregon State's game against Arizona State on Saturday, April 29 is slated to be aired live on FOX Sports Net. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at OSU's Ropes-Fetrow Field. In addition, the second game of the doubleheader between OSU and Oregon on April 22 will be tape-delayed and aired on FOX Sports Net on April 23. A replay time for that game is not yet available.
