Softball Hosts No. 1 Washington, No. 3 UCLA
April 6, 2000
THIS WEEK: The No. 12 Oregon State softball team (26-9-1) looks to end a three-game losing streak this weekend when the Beavers host No. 1 Washington and No. 3 UCLA. OSU takes on the Huskies at 2 p.m., Friday, April 7. The Beavers and Bruins will face off at 2 p.m., Saturday, April 8 and again at 1 p.m., Sunday, April 9.
BEAVERS DROP A SPOT TO NO. 12: OSU moved down one spot to No. 12 in the latest USA Today/NFCA top 25 polls. The Beavers were ranked 11th last week, but had been ranked 12th the previous two weeks. OSU has been ranked 10th, 11th or 12th all season. 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 four opponents received votes in the rankings. Polls are released each Wednesday. The Beavers have played 12 games against teams that were ranked at game time or are currently ranked. OSU is 6-6 in those games.
BEYSTER LEADING THE PAC-10: Tarrah Beyster is batting .488 on the year to lead all Pacific-10 players. Her batting average also ranks second in the nation. Beyster has 39 hits in 80 at-bats, including 11 home runs and three doubles. Her home run total is fifth in the conference and 11th nationally. She also leads the Beavers with 31 RBI and 22 runs scored. Opposing pitchers have walked her 27 times. 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.
HOME SWEET HOME, SORT OF: After playing 35 of their first 36 games on the road, the Beavers will finally get a chance to play three games in a row at Ropes-Fetrow Field. In fact, the Beavers will look to play their first full home game this weekend. In OSU's home opener (a 5-1 win over Southern Utah on March 28), the game was called after the sixth inning on account of the rain. After OSU completes its three-game homestand this weekend, the Beavers hit the road again for nine straight road games.
HOMER HAPPY BEAVERS: Oregon State players have combined for a school-record 29 home runs in just 36 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, who ranks second on the team, hit her fifth homer in OSU's home opener against Southern Utah earlier last 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.
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 156-174-2, 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 just 3-24 all-time against Washington and 4-53 against UCLA, but OSU picked up two wins apiece over both teams last season. OSU swept the Huskies (1-0 in 9 inn. and 2-1) in Corvallis, but lost twice in Seattle. OSU and UCLA split doubleheaders in both Corvallis and Los Angeles last year.
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS: Washington enters the week ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Huskies have a record of 38-4 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-10 after dropping one game at Cal last week. The UW pitching staff holds a collective 0.70 ERA with 296 strikeouts and just 58 walks. Freshman Jenny Topping leads the offense with a .467 batting average, 18 home runs and 65 RBI. UCLA brings a 28-5 overall record up to Oregon, and the Bruins opened league play with a 3-0 mark against the Bay Area schools last weekend. The Bruins are batting .320 as a team, led by rookie Natasha Watley's .423 average. Julie Marshall is batting .356 with a team-best 40 RBI and seven home runs.
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 (94 of 267), 39 percent of the team's runs (67 of 171) and 36 percent of the team's RBI (53 of 148). The rookies also have 22 of OSU's 41 doubles and eight of the team's 29 home runs. Steph Adams leads the Beavers with 10 doubles, is second with five home runs, third for RBI (18) and fourth for hits (24) and fifth for runs (15). Brynnen Guthrie is second on the team with a .405 batting average, while Shelly Prochaska is fifth on the team with a .282 average.
BEAVERS MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOKS: Two Beavers are making their way up the OSU career record books for various categories. Tarrah Beyster has 39 hits this season, giving her 203 for her career - good for second all-time at OSU and 22 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 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 218 batters in 36 games, an average of 6.1 K's per seven innings. Draper leads the Beavers with 116 K's, while Beyster has 102. 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. Beyster is OSU's career leader for strikeouts with 616, while Draper ranks third all-time at 333 and needs 22 more to move into second place.
RUTSCHMAN MOVES INTO TOP FIVE FOR STEALS: Junior Brooke Rutschman leads OSU 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 in 1985. Rutschman, who missed 16 games with a broken arm earlier this season, has started all 20 games she's played and is batting .377 on the year (third on the team). She has 23 hits this season and is six away from recording her 100th career hit. She's had at least one hit in 17 of 20 games this season, highlighted by a career-best 13-game hitting streak to start the season. She's also scored 15 runs to rank fourth on the team. Rutschman 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.
WHO'S BEEN HOT AS OF LATE: Shelly Prochaska has improved her batting average tremendously over the last 10 games. In those 10 games, Prochaska has batted .333 (10-for-30). In OSU's first 26 games, she hit just .254 with 14 hits. Steph Adams has also seen her numbers go up in the last couple weeks. Adams is hitting .310 (9-for-29) in the last 10 games, compared to a .214 average for the season. Tarrah Beyster has batted .500 during that 10-game span as well, with nine hits, eight RBI, four home runs and six runs scored.
BEAVERS JUMP AHEAD EARLY: OSU has a tendency to score its runs early in the game, as the Beavers have scored 99 of their 171 runs in the first three innings of their games. In fact, the Beavers have outscored their opponents, 74-15, 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 have outscored their opponents, 171-101, this season.
OSU STRUGGLES IN PAC-10 OPENER: The Beavers dropped all three games in Arizona last weekend. OSU opened the week with a game at Arizona State, where the Beavers managed just three hits to lose, 6-1. OSU then headed south to Tucson, where they were run-ruled for just the second time this season. The Wildcats put together an 11-0 win with 14 hits to OSU's four. OSU regrouped and came out strong for the final game of the weekend on Sunday. The Beavers outhit the Wildcats, 6-5, but UA still came away with a 4-1 win. All four UA runs were unearned, with OSU commiting three errors - its most in any game this season.
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 first 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.
