Softball Faces In-State Rivals This Week
April 18, 2000
THIS WEEK: The No. 14 Oregon State softball team (31-13-1, 3-7 Pacific-10) looks to build on last week's play with two doubleheaders this week. The Beavers, who won five of six games last week, travel up I-5 for a non-conference doubleheader at Portland State (18-24) on Wednesday, April 19 at 4 p.m. OSU returns to league play when it hosts No. 22 Oregon (29-17, 4-6 Pac-10) in doubleheader action at noon on Saturday, April 22 in the Civil War presented by Northwest Dodge Dealers.
CIVIL WAR GAME TO BE TELEVISED: The first game of Saturday's doubleheader between Oregon State and Oregon will be televised on FOX Sports Net on a delayed basis, with the game airing at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 23. Scott Lynn will handle the play-by-play duties while Ann Schatz will serve as the color commentator.
BEAVERS GUARANTEED A WINNING REGULAR SEASON RECORD: After going 5-1 last week, Oregon State assured itself of a winning record in the regular season for the second year in a row. Teams must have a winning record to be considered for an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament. The Beavers are 31-13-1 entering this week and have 15 regular season games remaining on the regular season schedule, with four non-conference games against Portland State and 11 Pacific-10 games left to play before post-season play. OSU had a 47-25 record in 1999 for its first winning season since 1984.
APRIL BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN PROCHASKA: Shelly Prochaska has been having an outstanding month of April so far. In 11 games this month, the freshman has batted .353 (12-for-34) to up her season average to .310. The rookie catcher/third baseman had a stellar week in six road games last week, when she hit .474 (9-for-19) with three doubles, a home run, four runs scored and four RBI. She went 3-for-4 in games against both No. 8 California and No. 9 Stanford.
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE: OSU has hit 55 doubles this year and needs just eight more to break the single-season record of 62 set just last season. And the Beavers are doing it without the help of Jodi Chmielewski, who finished her career last season by becoming OSU's career and single-season leader for doubles. OSU's six freshmen are making up for the loss. Of OSU's 55 doubles, 33 of them have been hit by freshmen. Steph Adams leads OSU with 11 doubles, which ranks third on the single-season list. Fellow rookie Shelly Prochaska is tied for second on the team with eight doubles, which is sixth on the single-season charts. Junior Shawna Feldt also has eight, while freshman Brynnen Guthrie and junior Jenni Jodoin have six apiece. The Beavers have tied the school record for doubles in a game twice this season, with four doubles in contests against Central Michigan and Saint Peter's. Three freshmen have also tied the individual single-game record with two doubles in one game. Prochaska had two doubles against Cal last week, while Cara Maxey also had two in a game against Saint Mary's last week. Guthrie had two in a game against Arizona State in March. In the history of the program, 10 players have had two doubles in 11 games. Current Beavers Parisa Plant, Tarrah Beyster and S. Feldt are among those 10 players.
BEYSTER AMONG LEAGUE'S BEST: Tarrah Beyster is batting .449 on the year to rank fourth among all Pacific-10 players. Beyster has 44 hits in 98 at-bats, including 11 home runs and four doubles. Her home run total is sixth in the conference. She also leads the Beavers with 35 RBI and 22 runs scored. Beyster is just four RBI away from tying OSU's single-season record. Opposing pitchers have walked her 37 times, giving her an on-base percentage of .600. Beyster has already been named Pac-10 Player of the Week twice this season, earning the honor on March 28 and Feb. 29. She was named the MVP at the Troy Cox Classic earlier this year, and she also earned All-Tournament team honors at the Bank of Hawaii Invitational.
HOMER HAPPY BEAVERS: Oregon State players have combined for a school-record 31 home runs in 45 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, which also ranks fifth in the Pac-10 Conference. Steph Adams ranks second on the team with six, while Jenni Jodoin is third with three. Shelly Prochaska, Shawna Feldt, Parisa Plant and Shannon Sorg each have two. Crystal Draper, 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.
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 161-178-2, 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. After going 5-1 last week, the Beavers have 31 wins on the year, making Walker the first OSU softball coach to guide the Beavers to back-to-back 30-win seasons. OSU had a school record 47 wins last season. Walker came to OSU from his alma mater UCLA, where he spent 11 years as a manager and assistant coach.
SERIES RECORDS: The Beavers hold a 48-25-1 all-time record against Portland State after going 3-1 against the Vikings last year. OSU upped its all-time record against Oregon to 59-71-1 after recording a 2-0 win in a pitcher's duel in Eugene last week.
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS: Portland State (18-24) has lost eight of its last 10 games, although six of those losses were to No. 1 Washington, No. 5 Fresno State and No. 22 Oregon. The Vikings are led by Kiauna Anderson, who has a .303 batting average, 24 runs and 15 RBI. Oregon (29-17, 4-6 Pac-10) is a strong offensive team, with a collective .295 batting average. Triawn Custer leads the team with a .388 average, while six others are also batting above .300. However, Oregon has shown some defensive struggles, ranking last in the Pac-10 with a .953 fielding percentage.
ROOKIES MAKING AN IMPACT EARLY ON: OSU's six freshmen have already made a big impact at Oregon State early on in their careers. The rookies have accounted for 38 percent of the team's hits (127 of 334), 42 percent of the team's runs (88 of 209) and 38 percent of the team's RBI (67 of 176). The rookies also have 33 of OSU's 55 doubles (60 percent) and 10 of the team's 31 home runs. Steph Adams leads the Beavers with 11 doubles, is second with six home runs, third for RBI (25) and fifth for runs (19) and hits (32). Brynnen Guthrie is second on the team with a .352 batting average and fourth for runs (21), while Shelly Prochaska is fifth on the team with a .310 average. Prochaska is also fourth on the team with 35 hits, and she's tied for second on the team with eight doubles.
BEAVERS MOVING UP THE CAREER RECORD BOOKS: Two Beavers are making their way up the OSU career record books for various categories. Tarrah Beyster has 44 hits this season, giving her 208 for her career - good for second all-time at OSU and 17 away from the record. She also has scored 22 runs this year, giving her 87 career runs to tie for second place all-time (11 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 28 RBI this season, lifting her career numbers to 80, which ranks second all-time.
BEAVERS CLOSING IN ON SEASON RECORDS AS WELL: Tarrah Beyster has 35 RBI on the year, just four away from tying the OSU single-season record. This marks the third season she's had 35 RBI, she also had 35 in 1997 and 1999. Beyster has 11 home runs and needs just one more to tie her own season record, she hit 12 home runs as a freshman, sophomore and junior. Brooke Rutschman is four stolen bases away from tying the season record for steals, Rutschman is 9-for-11 in stolen bases this year.
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 260 batters in 45 games, an average of 5.8 K's per seven innings. Draper leads the Beavers with 135 K's, while Beyster has 125. 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 10 coming against Oregon last week. Beyster is OSU's career leader for strikeouts with 639, while Draper ranks third all-time at 352 and needs three more to move into a tie for second place.
BEAVERS RANKED 14TH: OSU moved down to No. 14 in the latest USA Today/NFCA top 25 poll (includes games through April 9). All eight Pacific-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 five opponents received votes in the rankings. Polls are released each Wednesday. The Beavers have played 19 games against teams that were ranked at game time or are currently ranked. OSU is 9-10 in those games.
SCORE EARLY, SCORE LATE: OSU has a tendency to score its runs early in the game, as the Beavers have scored 116 of their 209 runs in the first three innings of their games. In fact, the Beavers have outscored their opponents, 88-20, in the first two innings. The Beavers have also shown they can come back late in the game if need be. The Beavers have outscored the opposition, 30-13, in the seventh inning and beyond. OSU has played six extra inning games and is 4-2 in those contests.
PAC-10 TAKING ITS TOLL ON THE BEAVER OFFENSE: The Beavers are 3-7 in league play, and their statistics are well below those for non-conference play. That's to be expected though, since all eight Pac-10 teams are ranked among the nation's top 25 teams. OSU is hitting .221 in league games, compared to a .277 average for the entire season. Only Shelly Prochaska has a higher batting average in conference play than for the whole year. The rookie is batting a team-best .367 (11-for-30) in Pac-10 games and .310 for the season. No other Beavers are hitting above .280 in conference play, although a total of five players are batting over .300 for the year.
OSU-ASU GAME 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.
