Beavers Hit Road for Two-Game Set vs. UNLV
Let’s Play Ball: The Oregon State softball team returns to the road this week for its final nonconference games of the season, as the Beavers face UNLV in Las Vegas. The two-game set will begin Saturday with a 6 p.m. start, before wrapping up 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: UNLV is 22-27 this season, and is coming off a series loss to Fresno State last weekend. The Rebels are second in the Mountain West with a team batting average of .312, and have hit 45 home runs this season. Garie Blando is batting .403 this year, while Stefany Valentino is hitting .392. Amanda Oliveto has 124 strikeouts in 37 appearances.
Series History: Oregon State is 6-9 all-time against UNLV, but the Beavers won the last meeting between the teams, taking a 6-5 victory on Feb. 15, 2007 at the UNLV Desert Classic.
Beavers in the Outfield: Oregon State outfielders Kori Nishitomi and Dani Gilmore have enjoyed tremendous success this season. The Beavers have entered all 44 games this year with Nishitomi in left and Gilmore in center, and the duo has put the bat on the ball all season long, as the two have combined for a .397 batting average. Individually, both Gilmore and Nishitomi are on pace to finish the season in the top-10 of Oregon State’s single-season batting list. Gilmore is currently in fourth, hitting .402 this season, while Nishitomi moved into a tie for fifth (.393) with a pair of strong performances against Portland State during the week.
Powering Past Portland State: Oregon State set a new season high with 13 runs in its victory in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader against Portland State. The Beavers also matched season highs with a pair of 14-hit games against the Vikings, tying the mark set on Feb. 22 against Pacific. The 10 runs Oregon State scored in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s game one was the most the Beavers have scored in a single frame since they put up 12 in the fourth inning against Long Beach State on Feb. 16, 2013.
Blastayola!: Oregon State senior Isabelle Batayola hit her first career home run in the second game of the Beavers’ doubleheader against Portland State on Tuesday. The blast came in the second inning, as the Seattle native put one over the fence in left field. The homer was part of a 2-for-2 performance from Batayola.
Give Me Gilmore: Junior Dani Gilmore has continued her fantastic collegiate career this season, hitting .402 with seven home runs, 30 runs and 33 RBIs. She had a team-best 12-game hitting streak going into the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader, before failing to record a hit in the contest. 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 .332 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 leads the team again this season with 18 walks in the 2014 campaign. Gilmore also does not shy away from pressure, as she is hitting .500 this season with runners in scoring position.
More Gilmore: Gilmore is already making her way into the Oregon State career record books. She is currently fifth in Beaver history with a .332 batting average, and is third with 92 walks. Her 116 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 Lea Cavestany for 9th with 24 career home runs. With a .693 slugging percentage through the first 44 games of the season, Gilmore is also on pace to finish the year second on Oregon State’s single season list for slugging percentage.
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 .386 through 19 games of conference play, and leads the team with 11 runs scored. Overall, Nishitomi is batting .393 on the year, leads the team with 53 hits and is tops on the squad with nine steals. Her season has been highlighted by a 4-for-4 performance against Arizona State on March 16, which included a triple. Nishitomi has also shown a penchant for teeing off against some of the nation’s best pitchers, as her two home runs this season have come against Arizona State’s Dallas Escobedo and Oregon’s Cheridan Hawkins.
Ya Ya Ya: Junior infielder Ya Garcia has started all 164 games Oregon State has played since entering the program as a freshman in 2012, hitting .251 with 60 runs. After putting up three hits against Portland State, Garcia is now just one hit away from joining Dani Gilmore and Hannah Bouska as the only active Oregon State players to reach 100 career hits. Garcia also made a splash at the Kajikawa Classic, when she launched her first career home run over the centerfield fence against San Diego State.
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 win this weekend, as she is just one victory away from 50 wins 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.
