Beavers Return to California for UCLA Invite
Let’s Play Ball: Oregon State will close out its tournament schedule with its third consecutive trip to Southern California this week, as it competes in the Cal State Northridge/UCLA Invitational. The Beavers will open the week with games against Charleston Southern and Georgetown on Friday. They will then follow that up by playing Grand Canyon on Saturday, before facing Grand Canyon and Cal State Northridge on Sunday.
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.
Game 1 - Charleston Sourthern: The Beavers will start the week with a 9 a.m. game against Charleston Southern at UCLA’s Easton Stadium. The Buccaneers are 10-9-1 on the season, and are led by Marci Christian, who is batting .341 with 12 runs, 12 RBIs, four home runs and a .732 slugging percentage. Cheyenne Gandara is Charleston Southern’s leader in the circle, holding a 4-3 record with a 2.10 ERA and 45 strikeouts. The matchup will mark the first ever game between the Beavers and the Buccaneers.
Game 2 - Georgetown: Oregon State’s second game on Friday will pit it against Georgetown in Northridge. The Hoyas are 7-7 this year, and are coming off a 10-0, 5-inning victory over Charlotte on Sunday. Megan Hyson has paced the Hoyas offensively to stary the year, hitting .350 with 12 RBIs and six extra-base hits. Hyson is also the team’s leader in the circle, posting a 1.70 ERA and a 5-3 record this season. The Beavers have never faced the Hoyas in school history.
Games 3 & 4 - Grand Canyon: The Beavers will face off with Grand Canyon in consecutive games, as Oregon State faces the Antelopes at noon on Saturday and at 9 a.m. on Sunday. Grand Canyon is 9-8 on the season, and, like the Beavers, had four of its five games last weekend cancelled due to rain. Kelsey Barak has started all 17 games for the Antelopes, batting .362 and scoring 13 runs. Kailey Regester is undefeated on the season at 4-0, and has struck out 15 batters, while posting a 3.02 ERA. This weekend’s action will mark the first two games between the Beavers and the Antelopes.
Game 5 - Cal State Northridge: Oregon State will close out the week by taking on tournament co-hosts Cal State Northridge Sunday afternoon. The Matadors have opened the year 9-8, and have been led by Kaitlin Toerner, who is batting .485 with eight runs. Brianna Elder paces the pitching staff with a 7-3 record, to go with a 2.95 ERA. The Beavers are 7-21-1 all time against the Matadors. Dani Gilmore hit a home run when the teams faced each other earlier this season.
Rain Rain Go Away: Five of Oregon State’s six schedule games at last weekend’s Long Beach Invitational were cancelled due to rain. The Beavers opened the weekend with a 5-2 win over Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. Amanda Najdek struck out 11, while Alexis Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the winning effort. The Beavers would not see the field again, as games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all washed-out. The Beavers have rescheduled their game with UC Santa Barbara for April 2 at the OSU Softball Complex. The game was originally slated to be played in Long Beach last Friday.
Give Me Gilmore: Junior Dani Gilmore has opened the 2014 campaign on a tear, hitting .353 with five home runs, 17 runs and 12 RBIs, and is 6-for-14 in her last six games. With three walks in Thursday’s win over Cal State Fulleton, Gilmore has now reached base in 11 consecutive 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 three weeks. Gilmore is a career .311 hitter, and has proven to be a wizard on the base-paths as well, stealing a team-best 26 bases on just 29 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 seventh in Beaver history with a .311 batting average, and is fifth with 84 walks. Gilmore needs one more steal to tie Paige Lowe for 10th on OSU’s stolen bases list.
Amanda’s Arm: Senior pitcher Amanda Najdek has led Oregon State in the circle so far this season, and posted the best performance of her Beaver career Thursday against Cal State Northridge. Najdek pitched a complete game, striking out 11 batters, and allowing just five hits and no earned runs. 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 also had a strong showing at the Mary Nutter Classic last week. The Beaverton, Ore., native made four appearances and three starts in Cathedral City, posting two complete games and allowing just 11 earned runs over the five-game tournament. Her week was highlighted by 5.1 innings of relief work against Tennessee on Saturday Feb. 22, in which she allowed just four hits and one earned run. Najdek has found most of her success by keeping opponents in the infield. She has recorded 87 outs on ground balls this season, compared to 30 on fly balls.
Going, Going, Gonzalez: Freshman Alexis Gonzalez has settled into her role as Oregon State’s designated player. Batting primarily in the cleanup spot, Gonzalez has hit .414 over the last 10 games, with two home runs and 12 RBIs. Gonzalez has started 15 of Oregon State’s 17 games this season, second only to catcher Kylie Padilla among Beaver freshmen. She has another strong showing Thursday, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and also had a single that allowed two runners to score on an error.
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 .400 through the first 17 games of the year, and has been rewarded by being moved up to the leadoff spot. The Kaneohe, Hawaii, native has been particularly hot at the plate in the last few weeks, hitting .433 with a .500 on-base percentage over the last 10 games. She has scored 12 runs this season, and has walked seven 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.
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.
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.
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