Beavers Set to Host Arizona State in Home Opener
The Oregon State softball team will make its home debut this week, when it faces Airzona State in a three-game series to open Pac-12 Conference play. The teams will open the series Friday at 1 p.m., before continuing the slate with games Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon.
Follow Along: You can find live updates for all Oregon State games this season on twitter @OregonStateSB. Live stats will also be available at osubeavers.com.
The Matchup: Arizona State is currently ranked No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll, and seventh in the USA Today/NFCA rankings. The Sun Devils hold a record of 26-3, and will carry a seven-game winning streak into Friday’s contest. Arizona State has eight players currently batting over .300 on the season, led by Amber Freeman, who is hitting .440 on the year, with 23 RBIs and four home runs. Sachel Palacios leads the Pac-12 with a .625 on-base percentage. Pitcher Dallas Escobedo is coming off a Pac-12 and NFCA Player of the Week performance last week, after she threw three shutouts. She leads the conference with 138 strikeouts on the year. The Beavers are 30-74 all-time against the Sun Devils. Dani Gilmore led Oregon State in last year’s series, going 3-for-9 with a home run.
Berg to Be Honored: Head coach Laura Berg will be honored prior to Saturday's game for her induction into the National Softball Hall of Fame. Berg is the most decorated Olympic athletic in softball history, helping the USA win gold in 1996, 2000 and 2004, and silver in 2008. Her eighth-inning hit in the 2000 gold medal game in Sydney drove in the game-winning run, helping the stars and stripes defeat Japan 2-1. She won 11 total medals during her playing career, while competing for the US in the Olympics, the ISF Women’s World Championships and the Pan-American Games. Berg was a four-time All-American during her collegiate career at Fresno State, while helping the Bulldogs to three Women’s College World Series appearances, including an NCAA Championship in 1998. In her first year as head coach of Oregon State last year, Berg recorded 34 wins, the most by any OSU coach in his or her first season.
Amanda’s Arm: Senior pitcher Amanda Najdek has led Oregon State in the circle so far this season, and has come on strong as of late, throwing three complete games in her last five starts. Najdek threw a shutout against Charleston Southern on Friday, striking out eight and allowing just four hits in the winning effort. That performance followed a strong showing a Cal State Fullerton, in which she conceded no earned runs, while striking out 11. Her strikeout total was the highest for an Oregon State pitcher since Tina Andreana also struck out 11 against San Diego State on Feb. 17, 2011. Najdek is tops on the team with 64 strikeouts, and has allowed 76 hits in 76 innings of work.
Give Me Gilmore: Junior Dani Gilmore has opened the 2014 campaign on a tear, hitting .400 with five home runs, 21 runs and 16 RBIs, and is 8-for-14 in her last five games. The West Hills, Calif., native played the majority of her first two seasons in the leadoff spot, but has transitioned into the third position in the order the last four weeks. Gilmore is a career .320 hitter, and has proven to be a wizard on the base-paths as well, stealing a team-best 27 bases on just 30 attempts since 2012. Gilmore also led the Beavers with 36 walks last season, placing her 14th in the NCAA in walks per game with 0.82.
More Gilmore: Gilmore is already making her way into the Oregon State career record books. She is currently sixth in Beaver history with a .320 batting average, and is third with 88 walks. After stealing her first base of the season last week, Gilmore is now tied for 10th on Oregon State’s steals list, with 27.
This is Aarhus: Freshman Amee Aarhus has made an immediate impact on the Beaver lineup since being inserted as a starter a few weeks ago. The Camas High School graduate is hitting .385 on the year, and leads the team with five stolen bases. Aarhus has started nine games, all at third base, and had the best stretch of her collegiate career last week, as she went 7-for-16 at the UCLA/CSUN Invitational, with three RBIs.
How ‘Bout Dembinski: Junior transfer Melanie Dembinski earned the first two wins of her Oregon State career last week, as she guided the Beavers to victories over Georgetown and Grand Canyon. The pitcher from Venice, Fla. threw 13 innings in her two appearances, including six innings of shutout work against the Hoyas. Over the two game stretch, Dembinski allowed a total of two earned runs on eight hits, for an ERA of 1.08 and an opponent’s batting average of .190.
Kori Comes Through: Kori Nishitomi has opened her Oregon State career on a strong note, after transferring from Longwood in the summer. Nishitomi is hitting .358 through the first 22 games of the year, and has been rewarded by being moved up to the leadoff spot. She has scored 17 runs this season, and has walked nine times.
Padilla Makes Her Mark: Freshman Kylie Padilla made her presence felt in the Oregon State lineup during the first six games of the season. The Catcher from Chino, Calif. went 10-for-21 to open her collegiate career with 10 RBIs, six extra-base hits and two runs. Here is a list of Padilla’s accomplishments over the first weekend of the season:
-Became the first player in school history to hit for the cycle (vs. Penn State)
-Tied a school record with seven RBIs in a game (vs. Penn State)
-Is the first player in Oregon State history to tally six extra-base hits in the first six games of her career.
-Has the best batting average (.476) of any freshman in her first six games since Vanessa Iapala hit .529 in the first six games of 2006.
The Tip of the Ice-Berg: Head coach Laura Berg made a mark in her first season as the Beavers’ boss. The Fresno State graduate led Oregon State to a 34-24 record, including an NCAA Regional appearance. Berg’s team tied the Oregon State single-season record for batting average at .280, and finished fourth in school history with 277 runs. Berg has experience with success as a player as well, winning three Olympic gold medals and earning NCAA All-America honors during her career.
Do Some (Pac-12) Networking: Oregon State will have 13 games televised on Pac-12 Networks this season, up from the 10 the Beavers had a year ago. Oregon State will make its 2013 TV debut on March 22, when it takes on Arizona in Tuscon. All three games in the series will be televised, as the two squads will also go head-to-head March 23-24.
The Dembinski Demographic: Junior transfer Melanie Dembinski is the first Oregon State player to hail from the state of Florida in program history. Dembinski attended Venice High School in Venice, Fla., before making a name for herself at Central Arizona College the last two seasons. She went 15-1 in her final season with the Vaqueras, tallying a 1.64 ERA and striking out 71 batters in 124 innings. She is joined by another rarity on the team, fellow transfer Kori Nishitomi. Nishitomi is the first Beaver to come from Hawaii since Angel Miller dawned the Orange and Black in the 1992 season. Nishitomi joins the Beavers after hitting .440 with 80 runs for Longwood last season.
Going for 3: This year’s Oregon State recruiting class was ranked third in the nation by StudentSports.com, and includes four of the site’s top 40 recruits. Alysha Everett is Student Sports’ 23rd-ranked recruit, following an impressive display at PGF Nationals over the summer, as she hit .409 in bracket play. 27th-ranked Gina Bond is considered to be one of the top home-run hitters in the country, and has earned 6A Three Rivers first team honors three times. McKenna Arriola is StudentSports.com’s 33rd-rated recruit. She hit .541, with 33 runs, 23 RBIs and 12 steals at Camino Real High School last season, en-route to All-City honors. 40th-ranked Lovie Lopez batted .449 with five home runs as a junior for St. Paul High School last season. Pitcher Rainey Dyreson rounds out the class. She was named Great Basin (West) Conference Pitcher of the Year in her freshman and sophomore years, and has competed in the PGF Nationals.
