Softball Hosts No. 7 California for - Oregon State University Athletics

May 4, 2011

THIS WEEK - The Oregon State (18-22 overall, 1-14 Pacific-10 Conference) softball team returns home this weekend to take on No. 7 (ESPN.com/USA Softball) California (39-4, 10-5) in a three-game set starting Friday at 3 p.m. at the OSU Softball Complex on Strike Out Cancer Weekend sponsored by the Corvallis Clinic's Project H.E.R. The series continues at 12 p.m. on Saturday and will conclude on Sunday with an 11 a.m. first pitch.

STRIKEOUT CANCER - This weekend's conference series against the California Golden Bears will be the annual "Strike Out Cancer" weekend. There will be giveaways for pink pompoms and pink beads as well as drawings for pink hats throughout the games. Admission is free for all softball games so come out and support the Beavers and a great cause.

FOLLOWING THE BEAVS - Live stats are available for all of the games through Gametracker. Gametracker can be found by accessing the 2011 Oregon State softball schedule.

TRACK THE TEAM ON TWITTER - Get frequent updates on the Oregon State softball team throughout the season by following @OregonStateSB on Twitter. Links to stories, pictures from the road and much more will be tweeted through the official Oregon State softball Twitter.

GAMES 41-43: NO. 7 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS - California comes into play this weekend with an overall record of 39-4 and a sit in second place in the Pac-10 with a conference record of 10-5. The Golden Bears are 9-1 in their last 10 games and have won five straight. Left fielder Jamia Reid and pitcher Jolene Henderson were named the Pac-10 Player and Pitcher of the Week respectively for the previous week.

Reid leads the team and is second in the conference in batting average with a mark of .462 and has totaled a team-best five triples this season. Her sister Elia Reid leads the team in home runs with seven. The Golden Bears are hitting .292 as a season.

The pitching staff is anchored by Henderson who posts a 0.77 earned-run average. She has allowed only 26 earned runs in 237 2/3 innings pitched while striking out 233. He is 30-6 on the season. The staff posts a collective ERA of 1.70.

MILESTONES - In the final game of the Oregon series, Audrey Roderfeld played in her 200th game at Oregon State and is the active leader on the team. Other upcoming milestones include Paige Hall's quest for her 300th career strikeout, she sits at 297, while Erin Guzy is just three hits away from 100 for her career.

IN THE RECORDS - With two home runs this season, Audrey Roderfeld now sits alone in third place all-time at Oregon State in home runs with 37 for her career. Her 10 RBIs this season has moved her into a tie for fourth in career RBIs with 121. Paige Hall's 297 strikeouts is ninth all time and is five away from tying Cheryl Reeder (1989-92) for eighth all-time at 302. Hall also now has 37 career wins which ties her for ninth with Kelly Dyer (2007-10).

OPENING DAY NO-NO - The Oregon State pitching staff opened the 2011 campaign nearly perfect. Sophomore Marina Demore and junior Paige Hall combined for the 14th no-hitter in Oregon State history. Demore pitched four perfect innings and was relieved in the fifth by Hall who closed out the no-hit bid. Oregon State won the opening day game, 8-0 in five innings. The lone walk in the game came in the fifth inning.

PERFECT PAIGE - The day after contributing to a no-hitter, Hall became the third pitcher in Oregon State history to throw a perfect game when she threw six perfect innings against Western Michigan striking out six batters in the process. The last time an Oregon State pitcher threw a perfect game was Monica Hoffman in 2002 when she blanked Hawai'i for a 1-0 win.

BACK-TO-BACK - The combined no-hitter by Demore and Hall and Hall's perfect game on back-to-back days was the shortest amount of time between no-hitters in school history. Monica Hoffman held the previous record at just six days. She threw a no-hitter against Oklahoma State on March 2, 2002 and threw her perfect game against Hawai'i on March 8, 2002.

SCHEDULE CHANGES - The game against Fresno State that was to be played at the Cathedral City Classic will not be made up. The game against Portland State that was rained out in Seattle will now be played as a doubleheader in Portland on Tuesday, May 10. The doubleheader will be played at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The game at Santa Clara on Thursday, April 14 has been moved to 12 p.m.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BEAVERS - The Beavers head north next Tuesday for a doubleheader at Portland State. The first game of the doubleheader is slated for 5 p.m. with the second game following.

Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this LINK OR CALL 541-737-2370. FOLLOW BEAVER ATHLETICS ON Facebook, TWITTER AND YouTube. Follow Oregon State Softball on FACEBOOK AND Twitter . Former Former Student-Athletes are invited to join the Varsity O Facebook Page for upcoming Alumni events.