Cavestany and Hampton Grab Pac-12 Second Team Honors
May 15, 2013
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – Freshman first baseman Natalie Hampton and senior outfielder Lea Cavestany were named Pac-12 All-Conference Second Team selections, announced by commissioner Larry Scott on Wednesday afternoon. Hampton also earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team. Five OSU players also earned Honorable Mention bids.
Hampton and Cavestany have combined to become the first Oregon State duo to have at least 10 home runs each in six years. Hampton’s 15 homers place her just one shy of tying the school’s single season record, while her 50 RBIs are a new school record. She earned her first Pac-12 Player of the Week award after the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in late February when she batted .400 with four home runs and seven RBIs in five games. Hampton is one of just three freshmen to be named to the first or second teams.
Cavestany’s selection puts a cap on one of the best offensive careers in school history. A .297 career hitter, she’s in third place on the career doubles list with 40, and her 24 career home runs are ninth best at OSU. She’s also tied for seventh in school history with 120 RBIs and tied for fourth with 32 career stolen bases. Her 10 home runs and 42 RBIs this season are both career highs.
Rounding out the selections to the Honorable Mention list are seniors Desiree Beltran, Elizabeth Santana and Marina Demore and sophomores Ya Garcia and Dani Gilmore. Beltran is batting .273 this season with seven home runs and 28 RBIs while Santana is batting .309 after starting all 55 regular season games at shortstop. She also leads the team with 11 stolen bases.
Demore became the first Oregon State pitcher in six years to win 20 games in a season in 2013. She has a career-best 3.03 ERA and has set new personal marks with 17 complete games and five shutouts.
Garcia has had a breakout season as a sophomore, batting .318 with three doubles and two triples. In a six-game stretch in early April, Garcia hit .688 (11-for-16) while scoring five runs and slugging .875. And despite fighting injuries this season, Gilmore has hit eight home runs while driving in 23 runs from the leadoff position of the order. She’s walked 36 times this season, currently seventh on the school’s single-season list.
The Beavers open the NCAA Regionals with a matchup against Hofstra. That game time has been moved up one hour. It will now begin at 1:00 p.m. Pacific/3:00 p.m. local time.
