#23 Beavers Ready For Busy Week Against #5 ASU And #14 Stanford
April 8, 2012
The Weekend: The #25/23 Oregon State softball team will be back in action after an extended layoff when it hosts a three-game set against Arizona State before traveling to The Farm to take on Stanford this coming week. The Beavers will play a doubleheader against the Sun Devils on Tuesday, April 10 (2 p.m. & 4 p.m.) and wrap up the series with a single game on Wednesday, April 11 (12 p.m.). OSU will have one day off before heading to Northern California for a three-game set against the Cardinal over the weekend. Oregon State and Stanford will match up for a night game on Friday, April 13 (7 p.m.), following that up with afternoon affairs on Saturday, April 14 (1 p.m.) and Sunday, April 15 (12 p.m.).
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Welcome Back: Following a week in which it secured three wins over top-15 opponents, Oregon State has worked its way into the top-25 for the first time in over four years. OSU moved to No. 25 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I poll and entered the ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings at No. 23. Oregon State was last ranked on February 12, 2008 when it came in at 25th in both polls. The last time the program was any higher was in 2008's preseason rankings, which tabbed Kirk Walker's squad 18th (USA Today/NFCA) and 19th (ESPN.com/USA Softball), respectively. The most recent time OSU was featured in national polls this late in the season was in the final rankings of 2007 (June 20) when it finished the season as the 15th-best team in the country according to the USA Today/NFCA voters.
The national recognition comes on the heels of an impressive seven-game stretch which saw the Beavers claim two wins over then-No. 15 Oregon (5-4 (8); 7-1) on Monday, March 26 in addition to a road upset of then-No. 14 UCLA (7-5) on Sunday, April 1. Oregon State hadn't beaten three ranked teams in the same week in six years, since defeating No. 1 UCLA (2-0) and No. 14 Washington (3-2; 5-0) on three consecutive days in 2006 (April 21-23).
California Love: The win over UCLA was exceptional in many respects. It was Oregon State's 11th all-time victory against the perennial powerhouse from Southern California and was only the Beavers' fourth win against the Bruins in Westwood. OSU last came away from Easton Stadium on top on April 21, 2006 in a 2-0 triumph over then-No. 1 UCLA.
It was also Oregon State's first Pac-12 road win of any sort since 2009 (4/11/09 vs. Oregon; W, 2-1) and was the program's first true road win against a top-15 team since it defeated No. 11 Washington, 2-0, on April 27, 2007. The 7-5 final also snapped UCLA's 12-game winning streak, handed the Bruins (25-7, 2-1 Pac-12) their first home loss of the season and only their first home defeat at the hands of an unranked opponent since 2009.
Civil War Records: The victories against Oregon gave Oregon State its first back-to-back wins against the Ducks since 2008 and sealed only the Beavers' third Pac-12 series victory since that year. The six-run margin of victory in the finale was OSU's largest in a Pac-12 game in almost four years, going back to an 8-0 win in six innings against then-No. 22 California on April 12, 2008, and the 7-1 final was also the Beavers' largest victory against Oregon in over a decade, since an 11-2 win on April 14, 2001.
A Good Pace: Oregon State is now 26-10 this season. That record through 36 games is the program's best mark since its 2006 team started that campaign 29-7 en route to the Beavers' only-ever appearance in the Women's College World Series. With a .722 winning percentage, the team's 26-10 record also places it more than 15 games above .500 for the first time in five years. Oregon State's 3-3 mark in Pac-12 play is the program's best conference start since it began 4-2 in 2007, which is also the last year the Beavers advanced to the postseason.
Games 37-39 - Arizona State: The defending national champion Sun Devils come into the series winners of nine of 10 and owners of a 35-4 overall record to go along with a 7-1 mark in Pac-12 play. Of their 39 games, only seven have been away from Tempe. Through games as of April 1, ASU is sixth in the nation in batting (.340) and has three regulars hitting over .400. Katelyn Boyd leads Arizona State in almost every offensive category with a .442 average, 15 home runs and 41 RBI. The Sun Devils are also stellar in the circle, as Hillary Bach (16-0, 1.14 ERA) and Dallas Escobedo (14-3, 2.34) have started 30 combined games and struck out nearly 200 batters (197).
Games 40-42 - Stanford: Stanford will host Oregon State after a mid-week series at UCLA on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Cardinal are 28-10 overall, but seven of those losses have come in the last 10 games, as the team sports a 2-7 conference record. Teagan Gearhart is a workhorse on the rubber, posting a 23-6 mark and a 2.32 ERA. She leads the country in wins and is in the top 25 in strikeouts, with 151 in 169.0 innings. Offensively, Hanna Winter has 64 hits and a .457 average while Jenna Rich leads the Cardinal with five home runs and 43 RBI. Ashley Hansen, the reigning USA Softball National Player of the Year, is batting .373 with two home runs and 30 RBI.
Double Digits: In scoring 13 runs against Cal State Northridge on March 28, Oregon State pushed more than 10 runs across the plate for the seventh time this season, which is second in team history. The school record dates back to 1978 when OSU scored 10 or more 11 times in 25 games.
Cruising to Victory: The 13-1 final against the Matadors was also Oregon State's fifth win this year in which the margin of victory was at least 10 runs, tying for second in program history. The last time the Beavers defeated five opponents by double-digits was in 1993. The same 1978 holds the record in that category as well, as they won eight games by 10 or more that season.
Beating The Best: The 7-5 triumph over then-No. 14 UCLA was OSU's fifth over a ranked opponent this season, coming on the heels of 5-4 and 7-1 victories over then-No. 15 Oregon on March 26, an 11-3 thrashing of then-No. 20 Nebraska on Feb. 11 and an 8-1 trouncing of then-No. 23 North Carolina on March 8. This season marks the first time the Beavers have beaten two ranked opponents in the non-conference portion of their schedule since 2009. It also is the first set of back-to-back wins (not necessarily in consecutive games) against ranked foes in non-conference since OSU won six straight such games in 2006. The Beavers notched consecutive victories over ranked teams in Pac-12 play for only the third time in the last four years.
Beavers On National Radar: Improved play has also landed Oregon State (25th in NCAA RPI) among the nation's statistical leaders. Through games as of April 1, the Beavers are 17th in the nation in runs scored, averaging 6.14 per game, and are 29th in double plays, turning an average of 0.42 each contest. Individually, Paige Hall is tied for eighth in the country with three saves, Elizabeth Santana is tied for 27th with three triples and Desiree Beltran is tied for seventh after being hit by a pitch 13 times. Freshman Dani Gilmore is tied for 17th nationally with three sacrifice flies and is 36th in walks, patiently drawing 0.75 per game. Against Long Beach State, Gilmore tied an Oregon State record by drawing four free passes. It's the fifth time that had been done in team history and first since teammate Mary Claire Brenner walked four times against Ohio State in 2010.
Paige's Punchouts: Senior Paige Hall is 11-1 this season with three saves and a 1.75 ERA. Her 358 career strikeouts place her sixth all-time at Oregon State, just 17 shy of passing Kelly Dyer (2007-10) for fifth.
Not A Single One: In the second game of its doubleheader against Maine on Feb. 27, Oregon State shutout the Black Bears, 13-0, dispatching its opponent in only five innings. The final score marked the Beavers' largest shutout victory since a 17-run triumph over UAB on March 29, 2006.
Beavers Bring the Bats: OSU opened up its 2012 season by going 3-2 at the Kajikawa Classic and proceeded to put together the single-best five-game offensive stretch in team history. The squad put up a staggering 59 runs in five games (31 innings), crushing 10 home runs, including two grand slams, while getting on base at a .482 clip and going a perfect 8-for-8 on stolen bases.
Record-Setting Performance: Oregon State's 22 runs in the season-opener against BYU are the most in program history and the 16-run second inning is a school record as well. In that second frame, the team launched five home runs, tying the school mark for an entire game. Senior Paige Hall hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and Erin Guzy and Desiree Beltran smacked the school's first back-to-back jacks since 2009. The five home runs in one inning ties an NCAA record and is the fifth time it's ever been done. Creighton was the last school to turn the trick when they did it in the first frame against North Dakota State on April 5, 2010. The 16 runs scored in the second are tied for the sixth-most in NCAA history in any one inning.
Big Win: In the final game of the Kajikawa Classic, Oregon State upended No. 20 Nebraska, 11-3, in only six innings. It's the school's first victory over a top-20 team by way of the mercy rule since a 9-0 win over No. 17 Washington on April 3, 2005.
What A Difference A Year Makes: With the gaudy numbers put up so far this season, Oregon State's offensive production is on pace to eclipse a number of marks in the Beavers' record books. OSU has already scored more runs (221), accumulated more RBI (193), stolen more bases (40) and hit more home runs (28) through 36 games this year than it did in all of 2011.
Click attached release for graph outlining OSU's offensive pace.
Mercy Please: The first three of Oregon State's wins this season came without having to go the full seven innings. This marked the first time the Beavers had three wins in a row come in such a fashion since March 2008. That month, the team won three straight games by 8-0 scores in five innings against Mississippi Valley State (twice) and Northern Illinois at the Cascade Clash in Corvallis, Ore. OSU has ended five games this season by way of the mercy rule. The team only had four games end before the seventh inning in all of 2011.
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