No. 18 Softball Hosts Kansas On Sunday In Home Opener
March 19, 2004
CORVALLIS, Ore. -
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Sunday, March 21
Kansas at No. 18 OSU - 1 p.m. PST (Corvallis, OR)
(Double-header)
Monday, March 22
Missouri at No. 18 OSU - 1 p.m. PST (Corvallis, OR)
(Double-header)
A QUICK GLANCE AT THE OPPOSITION:
University of Kansas enters the weekend with a 17-8 overall record and will kickoff a 10-day road trip with a double-header against Portland State on Saturday. University of Missouri enters Saturday's double-header at University of Oregon with a 10-15 record overall mark. OSU holds a 2-0 all-time record against the Jayhawks and is 1-0 all-time against the Tigers.HOME OPENER: No. 18 Oregon State will open its home campaign on Sunday with a double-header against Kansas. The Beavers hold a 7-2 all-time record in home openers with Kirk Walker at the helm.
BEAVERS IN THE TOP 25: Oregon State moved up five notches to the No. 18 spot in this week's USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll. The Beavers hold a 3-1 record against opponents ranked in the Top 10 so far this season. All eight Pacific-10 Conference teams rank in the Top 25; 1. Arizona, 2. UCLA, 3. California, 9. Washington, 11. Stanford, 16. Oregon, 18. Oregon State 23. Arizona State.
KNOCKING OFF No. 1: Oregon State rallied for a 3-2 victory against top-ranked UCLA on Mar. 14 at the Clovis Auto Row Classic hosted by Fresno State University. The Beavers scored two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to record just their sixth ever victory against the Bruins (UCLA leads the all-time series 65-6). Freshman Brianne McGowan's flair into shallow center field knocked in Kelly Petersen for the game-winner. Sophomore Vanessa Iapala finished the game with a 2-for-4 effort from the plate, while freshman Sherina Galvan went 2-for-3. OSU out-hit UCLA by an 8-4 margin. All six Oregon State victories against the Bruins have come with Kirk Walker, a UCLA grad, at the helm.
PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore first baseman Vanessa Iapala was named Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Week for Mar. 10-16 as was announced by Commissioner Tom Hansen. Iapala, from San Diego, CA, earned All-Tournament honors at the Clovis Auto Row Classic hosted by Fresno State for her efforts in helping Oregon State to the tournament title and a 5-1 record. Iapala finished the weekend with a .474 batting average (9-for-19), four doubles, four runs scored, six RBI, and a .684 slugging percentage. The Player of the Week honor is the first in Iapala's career and the 22nd all-time selection for Oregon State.
BIG WEEKEND: Freshman third baseman Sherina Galvan finished last week's Clovis Auto Row Classic with a team-leading .500 batting average (7-for-14). Galvan had 2-for-3 efforts from the plate against Utah, Long Beach State and UCLA, helping lead the Beavers to a 5-1 record and tournament championship. Galvan, from Moreno Valley, CA, holds a .288 batting average and ranks third on the team with 13 RBI.
MORE FROM THE TOURNAMENT: Freshman pitcher Ta'Tyana McElroy recorded a perfect 2-0 record and led the Beavers with a 0.93 ERA at the Clovis Auto Row Classic. McElroy picked up victories against North Texas and Long Beach State, improving her overall record on the season to 7-1.
FROM THE BATTERS BOX: Four Oregon State players are currently batting above .300 on the season. Sophomore Vanessa Iapala leads the Beavers with a .347 batting average, seven doubles, and 24 RBI. Junior Kelly Petersen ranks second on the squad with a .333 clip from the plate to go along with 22 runs scored and a team-high 18 walks, while freshman Mia Longfellow continues to bat above .300, posting a .311 mark from the plate, while leading the team with a 9-for-12 clip on stolen bases. Sophomore outfielder Adrienne Alo boasts a .304 batting average with four doubles and four home runs.
LOOKING LONG: Oregon State is a perfect 15-0 on the season in games that at least one Beaver player hits a home run.
ON THE HOME RUN CHART: Junior shortstop Kelly Petersen's team-leading five home runs on the season move her into a tie for 3rd place on the Oregon State all-time home run list with 15 long balls during her career.
GOOD DEFENSE: Oregon State's .970 fielding percentage currently ranks second in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Beavers' best fielding percentage in school history is a .973 mark, set during the 2000 campaign. OSU currently has just 28 errors on the year - the school record for fewest miscues is 47, set in 2000.
QUICK HIT: Senior hurler Monica Hoffman ranks third in the Pacific-10 Conference with four double-digit strikeout games on the season.
DID YOU KNOW: No. 18 Oregon State's current 24-8 record matches the Beavers' start to the 2002 season. OSU finished the 2002 campaign with a 40-25 record.
OSU SOFTBALL COMPLEX: Oregon State enters the 2004 season with a 21-16 all-time record in games played at the OSU Softball Complex. The Beavers boast a 10-15 mark against opponents ranked in the Top 25.
HITTING BIG: Freshman pitcher Brianne McGowan has blasted a pair of game-winning home runs for the Beavers already this season, with shots against Nebraska (Feb. 15) and Oklahoma State (Mar. 6). Her 7th inning flair to center field against top-ranked UCLA on Mar. 14 scored the game-winning run for the Beavers as OSU rallied for a 3-2 victory - just its sixth ever against the Bruins.
HOFFMAN HIGHLIGHTS: Senior pitcher Monica Hoffman holds a team-leading 0.67 ERA with a 13-5 record and three saves. The Vancouver, WA native combined to pitch a perfect game with freshman hurler Ta'Tyana McElroy when the Beavers knocked off Saint Mary's by an 8-0 margin in five innings on Feb. 8. Hoffman holds the Oregon State record with four career no-hitters. She was named one of 40 players listed as a possible candidate for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award - considered the Heisman Trophy in women's collegiate softball. Hoffman has five shutouts on the season and her 23 career shutouts rank 6th in the Oregon State record book.
600 K CLUB: After her 26 strikeouts earlier this season at the CSUF Worth Tournament, senior pitcher Monica Hoffman broke the 600 career strikeout barrier. Hoffman enters the week with 626 career K's - only three pitchers in Oregon State history have struck out more than 500 batters (Crystal Draper 809; Tarrah Beyster 694). On the season, Hoffman has tallied 139 strikeouts, while allowing just 33 walks.
ON THE SAVES CHART: With her three saves already this season, senior pitcher Monica Hoffman has moved into a tie for first place with Amy Warner (1994-97) in the Oregon State record book with nine saves in her career.
BEATING THE COMPETITION: Oregon State has a significant advantage over its opponents in several statistical categories:
- Team batting average: .267-.181
- Runs scored: 120-49
- Hits: 220-139
- RBI: 102-42
- Home Runs: 19-9
- Total bases: 317-188
- Stolen bases: 27-10
- On base percentage: .356-.241
- Earned run average: 1.21-3.19
IN THE RECORD BOOK: Sophomore Vanessa Iapala's two home runs against University of Alabama-Birmingham on Feb. 7 and freshman Sherina Galvan's two home runs against Cal Poly on Feb. 14 moved both players into the Oregon State record book. With the addition of Iapala and Galvan, just six players in Oregon State history have blasted two home runs in a single game. On the season, OSU has hit two home runs during four different games.
IMPRESSIVE FEAT: Prior to Oregon State's 4-2 exhibition loss to the USA Olympic Team on Feb. 22, the Olympic Team had won 119 consecutive games and had outscored the opposition 863-9.
THE NUMBERS BREAKDOWN: Oregon State returns nine players from last season's squad that finished with a 36-31 overall record and made its fifth consecutive NCAA Regional Tournament appearance. Senior hurler Monica Hoffman is the lone player to see action in three postseason appearances, while 13 underclassmen dot the youthful roster.
PAC-10 COACHES POLL: In a preseason poll voted on by the Pac-10 coaches, Oregon State was tabbed to finish eighth in the conference. Last year's regular season champion, UCLA, was picked to finish first.
PAC-10 POSTSEASON: All eight Pacific-10 Conference teams reached the NCAA Regional Tournament for the third time in the last five years. The Pac-10 has sent seven teams to postseason in five consecutive seasons. Four squads reached the Women's College World Series and last year marked the 20th time in 22 years that the Pac-10 sent at least one team to the WCWS championship game and the 10th time that two Pac-10 teams faced each other for the title. The Pac-10 has won 16 NCAA softball championships since 1982 - more than any other conference.
FACING THE BEST: So far this season Oregon State holds a 3-2 record against teams ranked in the Top 25. Oregon State finished the 2003 season with a 12-23 record against opponents ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Poll Top-25. Of Oregon State's 67 games on the season, the Beavers faced ranked opponents on 35 occasions. Forty-three percent of OSU's opponents (17-of-40) were nationally ranked a year ago.
PAC-10 POWER: Seven of the eight Pacific-10 Conference squads finished the 2003 season ranked in the final May 27 USA Today/NFCA Poll, a listing follows: 1. UCLA, 2. California , 3. Arizona, 6. Washington, 16. Oregon, 20. Arizona State, 23. Stanford. For the third consecutive year, the Pac-10 had a pair of teams compete in the Women's College World Series (UCLA and California). UCLA turned away the defending champion Golden Bears by a 1-0 score in 9 innings to earn its ninth NCAA softball title.
IN THE DUGOUT: Sixth-year assistant Jenny Condon was promoted to associate head coach during the summer of 2002. Condon helped lead the Beavers to their first NCAA Regional Tournament appearance in 1999. After a one-year stint at UNLV during the 2000 season, Condon rejoined the Beaver staff. Crissy Buck ,a former player for the 1999 NCAA Champion UCLA Bruins, returns to the Beavers for her second season as assistant coach. A four-year letterwinner, Buck graduated from UCLA in 2002. Former Beaver standouts Shelly Prochaska and Steph Adams join the team as student assistant coaches.
THE WORD ON WALKER: Head coach Kirk Walker is in his 10th season at the helm for the Beavers. Walker, a graduate of UCLA, has turned around Oregon State's softball program to make it a contender on a national scale. Walker has led the Beavers to five consecutive NCAA Regional Tournament appearances. The winningest coach in program history, Walker, has an overall coaching record of 315-272-3 and a 64-154 mark in the Pacific-10 Conference. He earned her 300th career victory when Oregon State completed a perfect game in an 8-0 victory against Saint Mary's on Feb. 8, 2004. Walker was selected as one of just 12 coaches named to the USA Softball National Team Coaches Pool, and will serve as an assistant coach for the USA Elite Team. Prior to his arrival at Oregon State, Walker spent 11 seasons at national powerhouse UCLA as a manager and assistant coach. During his time in Westwood, the Bruins won six NCAA titles and made 10 appearances in the College World Series.
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