Chirichigno Homers as OSU Wraps Up Regular Season
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Senior CJ Chirichigno homered, but the Oregon State softball team fell to San Diego State 3-1 Saturday afternoon in the team’s regular season finale.
Chirichigno’s blast was her ninth of the season, and moved her total to 35 RBIs. Fellow senior Hannah Akamine also recorded a hit in the contest.
Junior Beverly Miller spun a strong game in the circle, throwing all six innings and allowing just two earned runs.
San Diego State (36-18) would put runners on in the first three inning, but Miller did well to work out of it, using a 5-4-3 double-play in the second to extinguish the threat. The Beavers (26-26) got their first runner in the second inning, when Akamine was hit by a pitch for the 15th time this season, moving her into sole possession of third on OSU’s season list for that stat. The senior was stranded, however, as the pitchers controlled the game early on.
The Beavers would get something going in the fifth inning. Akamine started things off with a single up the middle. Sophomore Amee Aarhus would pinch-run for her, before junior Sammi Noland laid down a sacrifice bunt to put a runner in scoring position. Oregon State could not bring her home, however, and the teams headed to the bottom of the frame tied at zero. San Diego State would get on the board first in the bottom of the frame to take a 1-0 lead. The Aztecs would tack on two more in the bottom of the sixth to take a three-run advantage.
Oregon State would get things going in the top of the seventh. Chirichigno’s home run over the fence in left field put the Beavers on the board, and it looked like Noland might hit a homer as well, but the deep fly ball resulted in a loud out to end the game.
The Beavers conclude the regular season with the best batting average (.298) in school history, as well as the second-highest totals in runs (300) and RBIs (265).
