Beavers Host Civil War Series This Weekend
Let’s Play Ball: The Oregon State softball team returns home this weekend to take on Oregon, in the Civil War series presented by The Oregon College Savings Plan, PacificSource Health Plans, Your Local Ford Stores, Wells Fargo and McDonald’s. The three-game set will begin with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday, and will continue with games at 2 p.m. Sunday and 3 p.m. Monday.
On the Screen: You can catch Sunday and Monday’s contests live on Pac-12 Networks. Both contests will air on all seven Pac-12 Networks, and will be called by Ann Schatz and Amanda Freed.
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: Oregon moved into the top spot in both polls this week, after winning its series against then-No. 1 UCLA over the weekend. The Ducks are 34-5 overall and 8-1 in Pac-12 Conference play. Oregon is led by Courtney Ceo, who is batting .476 with 36 runs and 11 extra-base hits, while Kailee Cuico tops the team with 10 home runs. Cheridan Hawkins is the Ducks’ ace in the circle, holding a record of 20-3 with a 1.24 ERA and 198 strikeouts. The Ducks will be the first No. 1-ranked squad to play at OSU Softball Complex since the Beavers hosted No. 1 California May 4-6 2012.
Series History: The Beavers are 83-88-1 all-time against the Ducks. Oregon won last season’s series, but Oregon State took the set in 2012, the last time the teams met in Corvallis. The Beavers dropped the first game of that series, before bouncing back to win game two 5-4 in eight innings and game three 7-1.
Kori Comes Through: Kori Nishitomi has proven she can compete at the Pac-12 level, after transferring from Longwood in the summer. Nishitomi is batting .424 through 10 games of conference play, and leads the team with five runs scored. She hit a pair of doubles in Oregon State’s three-game series against Utah last week, and is currently riding a six-game hitting streak, the longest of her Oregon State career. Overall, Nishitomi is batting .385 on the year, leads the team with 40 hits and is tops on the squad with six steals. Her season has been highlighted by a 4-for-4 performance against Arizona State on March 16, which included a triple.
Give Me Gilmore: Junior Dani Gilmore has opened the 2014 campaign on a tear, hitting .398 with six home runs, 25 runs and 20 RBIs. The West Hills, Calif., native played the majority of her first two seasons in the leadoff spot, but has transitioned into the third position this year. Gilmore is a career .325 hitter, and has proven to be a wizard on the base-paths as well, stealing a team-best 28 bases on just 31 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, and is on a similar pace this season with 17 walks already in the 2014 campaign.
More Gilmore: Gilmore is already making her way into the Oregon State career record books. She is currently sixth in Beaver history with a .325 batting average, and is third with 92 walks. Her 111 runs are good for fifth in the Oregon State record book, while she is tied for ninth all-time with 28 steals and is tied with Vanessa Iapala for 10th with 23 career home runs. With a .677 slugging percentage through the first 30 games of the season, Gilmore is also on pace to finish the year second on Oregon State’s single season list for slugging percentage.
Triple Up: After hitting a pair of three-baggers is last weekend’s series against Utah, the Beavers are now third in the NCAA with .39 triples per game this season. Oregon State has tallied a total of 13 triples this year, with Kylie Padilla leading the way with three, good for 38th in the nation. Christie Langlois, Dani Gilmore and CJ Chirichigno each have two triples apiece. The Beavers are on pace to finish the campaign with just under 20 total triples, seven short of the school record of 27, set back in 1984. Oregon State matched a school record with three triples against Penn State on Feb. 7. Chirichigno, Isabelle Batayola and Padilla each tallied a three-bagger to help the Beavers reach the mark for the fourth time in school history. Prior to this season, the last time Oregon State had three triples in a game was in 2010, when it faced Seattle.
Bouska Reaches a Century: Senior Hannah Bouska reached the 100 hit milestone in style last Saturday against Utah. The Keizer, Ore., native got to the century mark by hitting an opposite-field home run in the largest park in the conference. The blast was Bouska’s first since she homered on April 12, 2013, also against Utah.
Cheer on Chirichigno: Junior transfer CJ Chirichigno has made an impact in her first forray into Pac-12 action. Chirichigno is batting .304 through the first 10 games of conference play, and is tied of the team lead with four RBIs. Chirichigno hit the first home run of her Oregon State career last Saturday, when she smoked a frozen rope to dead center, clearing the 235-foot fence at Utah Softball Stadium. Chirichigno then capped-off her weekend by making an incredible play in the field, diving to catch a line-drive to rob Kate Dickman of a hit.
Padilla Heats Up: Freshman Kylie Padilla had a very good series against Utah over the weekend, going 5-for-10 with two runs, a double, a triple and an RBI. Her weekend was punctuated by a 3-for-4 performance on Sunday. Padilla also 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. Berg could reach a coaching milestone with a sweep this weekend, as she is just three wins away from 50 victories in her career.
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.
