No. 16 Softball Heads To The Bay Area
March 31, 2004
CORVALLIS, Ore. -
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Thursday, April 1
No. 16 OSU at Saint Mary's - 2 p.m. PST (Moraga, CA)
Friday, April 2
No. 16 OSU at No. 11 Stanford - 7 p.m. PST (Palo Alto, CA)
Saturday, April 3
No. 16 OSU at No. 3 California - 2 p.m. PST (Berkeley, CA)
Sunday, April 4
No. 16 OSU at No. 3 California - 2 p.m. PST (Berkeley, CA)
EARLIER THIS SEASON AGAINST SMC: Oregon State won a pair of games earlier this season against Saint Mary's at the Paradise Classic in Hawaii. OSU rallied from a three-run first inning deficit to record a 5-3 victory on Feb. 6. Oregon State head coach Kirk Walker earned his 300th career victory as OSU topped Saint Mary's by an 8-0 score in five innings on Feb. 8. Beaver pitchers Monica Hoffman and Ta'Tyana McElroy combined to throw a perfect game with McElroy earning her third win of the year. OSU scored five runs in the first inning behind a two-run double by Ingrid Lochelt. Lochelt, Adrienne Alo and Kelly Petersen all had two hits in the game.
QUICK GLANCE AT THE CARDINAL: No. 11 ranked Stanford enters the week with a 27-7 overall record. The Cardinal has won seven straight games, led by senior pitcher Dana Sorensen's work in the circle. Sorensen boasts a 1.14 ERA and 15-4 record to go along with 167 strikeouts and only 37 walks. Jackie Rinehart leads the team with a .455 batting average and 50 hits.
BEAVERS AND CARDINAL SERIES NUMBERS: Stanford leads the all-time series with Oregon State by a slim, 22-20 advantage. The Beavers have an 8-21 record against the Cardinal under the direction of Kirk Walker. Stanford has won 11 of the last 13 meetings between the squads. The Cardinal have won 10 of the last 12 games played in Palo Alto.
QUICK GLANCE AT THE BEARS: No. 3 ranked California enters the week with a 33-3 overall record. The Bears have won a current Pac-10 leading 11 consecutive games. Six different California players are batting above .300, led by Vicky Galindo's .410 clip from the plate. Cal has 66 stolen bases on the year. Kristina Thorson leads the squad from the circle with a 0,71 ERA and perfect 14-0 record.
BEAVERS AND BEARS SERIES NUMBERS: California leads the all-time series with Oregon State, 55-23, but the Beavers are 10-21 against Cal with Kirk Walker at the helm. OSU has won four of the last seven games against the Bears in Berkeley.
BEAVERS IN THE TOP 25: Oregon State moved up two more notches to the No. 16 spot in the March 14 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, 6. Washington, 13. Stanford, 16. Oregon State, 17. Oregon, 23. Arizona State.
FROM THE BATTERS BOX: Four Oregon State players are currently batting above .300 on the season. Sophomore Vanessa Iapala leads the Beavers with a .371 batting average, eight doubles, and 33 RBI. Junior Kelly Petersen ranks second on the squad with a .336 clip from the plate to go along with 30 runs scored and a team-high 22 walks, while sophomore Adrienne Alo holds a .325 clip from the plate, with eight doubles and 27 runs scored. Freshman Mia Longfellow continues to bat above .300, posting a .303 mark from the plate, while leading the team with a 10-for-13 clip on stolen bases.
MOVING UP THE HOME RUN CHART: Junior shortstop Kelly Petersen's six home runs on the season move her into sole possession of third place on the Oregon State all-time home run list with 16 long balls during her career.
BIG "D": Oregon State's .973 fielding percentage currently ranks third 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 30 errors on the year - the school record for fewest miscues is 47, set in 2000.
NEAR PERFECT: Freshman pitcher Ta'Tyana McElroy holds a 10-1 record on the season in 17 appearances for the Beavers. McElroy combined with senior Monica Hoffman to throw a perfect game against Saint Mary's College on Feb. 8 at the Paradise Classic in Hawaii.
SIX STRAIGHT, ALREADY: With its 30-9 record on the year, Oregon State has tallied 30 or more wins in six straight seasons. The Beavers have 27 regular season games remaining on their schedule. OSU finished the 2003 campaign with a 36-31 record.
HITTING BIG; THROWING HARD: 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. McGowan boasts a 0.94 ERA in 59.2 innings pitched. The Reno, NV, native holds a 6-2 record on the season and has tallied 48 strikeouts while allowing only 10 walks.
ON A ROLL: No. 16 Oregon State has won 17 of its last 20 games, outscoring its opponents by a 99-29 margin over the stretch.
IT'S A SURE THING: Oregon State is a perfect 19-0 on the season in games that at least one Beaver player hits a home run.
OSU SOFTBALL COMPLEX: Oregon State currently holds a 27-16 all-time record in games played at the OSU Softball Complex, including a perfect 6-0 mark this season. The Beavers boast a 10-15 mark against opponents ranked in the Top 25.
HOFFMAN HIGHLIGHTS: Senior pitcher Monica Hoffman holds a team-leading 0.81 ERA with a 14-6 record and five 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 645 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 158 strikeouts, while allowing just 42 walks.
BEATING THE COMPETITION: Oregon State has a significant advantage over its opponents in several statistical categories:
- Team batting average: .277-.184
- Runs scored: 170-62
- Hits: 276-171
- RBI: 143-54
- Home Runs: 24-10
- Total bases: 407-224
- Stolen bases: 34-12
- On base percentage: .364-.248
- Earned run average: 1.30-3.82
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.
MORE RECORDS: With her five saves this season, senior pitcher Monica Hoffman became Oregon State's all-time saves leader. Hoffman has tallied a school record 11 saves in her career.
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. Team USA went 25-0 in its collegiate portion of the 'Aiming for Athens' tour - outscoring the opposition 229-9.
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 3-3 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 321-273-3 and a 64-155 mark in the Pacific-10 Conference. He earned his 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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