Corvallis, OR – No. 7 ranked Oregon State rallied back for a dramatic 2-1 seventh inning victory over University of Nevada in Friday’s opening round of the NCAA Regional Softball Tournament in Corvallis. Beaver All-American pitcher struck out 10 batters and sophomore went deep to spark the OSU offense to victory.
Nevada (33-32) took the early lead behind a lead-off solo home run from Cindy Elkins in the top of the third inning.
Oregon State (39-13) mounted a two-out rally in the bottom half of the frame behind back-to-back singles from Miranda and and loaded the bases after was hit by a pitch from Nevada ace Jordan McPherson (22-21). Beaver senior stepped to the plate, but grounded out to Wolf Pack third baseman Sarah Hunt to end the frame. Hunt made all three put-outs in the inning, the first two coming on diving plays as Nevada maintained its 1-0 edge.
McGowan (25-6) struck out the side in the top of the fourth inning as she found her groove in the circle.
Miranda knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning when she blasted her team-leading 15th home run of the season with a two-out shot over the left field fence.
McGowan continued her dominance of the Nevada batters, ending both the fifth and sixth innings with strikeouts and earning her 10th K of the game during the seventh.
Freshman first baseman was hit by a pitch to lead-off Oregon State’s half of the seventh inning and pinch runner was successfully sacrificed to second base on a bunt from freshman .
Nevada chose to intentionally walk Miranda and then Longfellow followed with a walk to load the bases for Alo to come to the plate. Alo hit a grounder that slid under Nevada shortstop Brittany Lorenzen’s glove and Roberts crossed the plate with the game-winner.
Both Miranda and Longfellow went 2-for-3 from the plate and McGowan allowed just three hits in the complete game victory.
Oregon State faces No. 19 Baylor University at 10 a.m. on Saturday, while Portland State will face Nevada at 1 p.m. Baylor rallied for a seventh inning 5-3 victory over Portland State in the opening game of the day.
