Beavers Close Home Schedule Hosting No. 10/11 Utah

THE WEEKEND

• The Beavers will close its home schedule this weekend hosting Pac-12 opponent No. 10/11 Utah for three games.

• Oregon State will face the Utes in series opener on Friday afternoon starting at 1 p.m.

• The two teams will also play Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., and finish

Sunday morning at 11 a.m.

• Following the series finale on Sunday, the Beavers will recognize its three seniors: Taylor Cotton, Natalie Hampton, Sammi Noland

LOOKING AHEAD

• Following this weekend, the Beavers will close their season at Cal.

• The three-game series will start Thursday afternoon at 2:05 p.m.

• Game two is schedule to start at 3:05 p.m., on Friday with the finale on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.

• All three games will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network and played at Levine-Fricke Field.

• The Beavers will look to return to the postseason with the selection show aired on Sunday night at 10 p.m., on ESPN2.

BEAVERS AT A GLANCE

• The Beavers are 25-22 overall and 6-12 in league play after picking up a non-conference win at Portland State on Wednesday night.

• Oregon State run-ruled No. 8/9 UCLA and a top-10 league opponent for the first time in program history in game one of the series on April 13.

• Natalie Hampton hit a 3-run walk-off against No. 8/9 UCLA in game three of the series to secure the series win for the first time in history.

• Redshirt senior, Natalie Hampton set the school RBI record with a RBI single in game two of the series at No. 10 Washington on April 8.

• Junior, Alysha Everett earned Player of the Week honors April 17 after totaling seven RBIs in the series against the Bruins including four in the run-rule victory in game one.

• Senior, Taylor Cotton picked up Pitcher of the Week honors March 7 after recording a pair of wins at the San Diego Classic, including throwing a no-hitter against Miami (Ohio).

• This weekend will be the ninth ranked opponent the Beavers will face this season.

• OSU is ranked No. 49 in the RPI this week.

• Alysha Everett ranks 120th in the nation in toughest to strikeout with a 16.9 mark. She has struck out just eight times in 135 AB this season.

SCOUTING THE UTES

• The Utes are 32-9 overall and 12-4 in the Pac-12 entering this weekend's series.

• Utah is ranked No. 10 in the NFCA/USA Today poll and No. 11 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball polls this week. The Utes started the season No. 18/17 in the preseason polls. The No. 10 ranking is the highest ranking of the season for the Utes.

• Utah is one of seven Pac-12 teams ranked among the top 25 in the nation in the RPI, sitting at No. 17 this week.

• The Utes took 2-of-3 games at No. 23 Arizona State last weekend. Senior Bridget Castro hit a solo homer in the final frame to give Utah the series win.

• Utah ranks 13th in the nation in batting average with a .320 mark and 15th in scoring with 6.05 runs per game.

• The Utes' pitching staff ranks 25th in the nation and third in the Pac-12 with a combined ERA of 1.87.

• Senior Hannah Flippen was taken with the 17th overall pick of the NPF Draft by the Scrap Yard Dawgs.

• Flippen was also selected as a finalist for the 2017 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award.

• Freshman Alyssa Barrera was named one of the 25 finalists for the NFCA Freshman of the Year award. She leads the Utes ans is second in the Pac-12 in runs scored with 41.

• Head coach for the Utes is Amy Hogue in her 9th season.

SERIES HISTORY

• Utah holds a 18-13 all-time record against Oregon State.

• The Beavers have lost the last six games in the series, with their last win coming back on April 6, 2014 in Salt Lake City.

• The last time Oregon State won the series was in 2013 in Corvallis. The Beavers won the first 6-2, but dropped game two 11-2. OSU took the series with a 10-2 victory in five innings in the rubber match.

• The last time the Beavers won in Corvallis was on April 14, 2013.

• Head coach Laura Berg is 3-9 against the Utes.

• This will the first time the Beavers will play a ranked Utah team since the Utes joined the conference in 2012.

EVERETT NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Junior Alysha Everett was named the Player of the Week on April 17, after totaling seven RBIs in the series win over UCLA.

• She hit a series-high four RBIs in the run-rule win in game one.

• Everett finished the series hitting .625 and slugging 1.125% as the designated player.

• The seven RBIs in the series brought her April total to 19 runs batted in.

• Everett leads the team with a .578 slugging mark, 41 RBIs and nine doubles.

HAMPTON SETS RBI RECORD

• Redshirt senior Natalie Hampton knocked a RBI-single in the 2-1 victory over No. 10 Washington on April 8, to record her 144th run batted in.

• She pasted Terrah Beyster (1997-00) who held the record for over a decade.

• Hampton set the single season RBI record as a freshman with 50, and matched it again during her redshirt junior season.

COTTON EARNS PITCHER OF THE WEEK

• Senior Taylor Cotton was named the Pitcher of the Week on March 7, after recording a pair of wins at the San Diego Classic.

• Cotton recorded her first career no-hitter against Miami (Ohio) and another shutout against San Diego over the weekend.

• She finished with a 0.86 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE

• Sammi Noland has been named a "Swiss Army Knife" by head coach Laura Berg for the many different positions she has started in her career.

• The red-shirt senior has started in five different positions in her three years as a Beaver.

• The transfer from Nebraska has started at 3B, SS and 2B so far this season. In the past, she started games in RF and catcher.

• Even though she has played five positions, she has only committed 11 errors in 103 games.

CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

• The Oregon State softball team got things done off the field and in the classroom during the fall and winter terms.

• The Beavers recorded a team GPA of 3.12 over the fall, including 13 student-athletes with a 3.0 GPA or better.

• During the recent winter term, the team finished with a 3.10 GPA and 12 student-athletes above a 3.0.

COTTON SHRINKS ERA

• Lefty-pitcher Taylor Cotton has done some major shrinking to here ERA over her college career.

• The senior started her career playing at Cal and posting a 8.54 ERA in 13 appearances before transferring.

• Since at OSU, she has improved her average from a 7.52 as a sophomore to a 6.30 as a junior.

• This season she is carrying a 2.73 ERA and an 11-7 record. She has pitched more innings in 2017 than she did total her first three years in the circle.

COME ON BACK

• Head coach Laura Berg hung up her cleats after nearly 20-years of softball and spent a year with the LAPD in 2010-11 before returning to the game as an assistant coach for the 2012 season at Oregon State.

• Associate head coach Marcia Green also has experience with law enforcement. Green studied criminology at Fresno State and spend five years as a prison guard at Corcoran State Prison in California following graduation before starting coaching.

• Assistant coach Emily Freidman finished her pro-softball career in 2010 and turned to CrossFit. She rose up the ranks quickly in the sport and became one of the top female athletes in the world from 2012-14.

BERG NAMED HEAD COACH OF JWNT

• Head coach Laura Berg will continue her legacy with the USA National Softball team, but this time with the junior team.

• Head coach Berg will be the leader of the 2017 Junior Women's National Team and will lead the 17-player roster this summer.

• Berg has prior experience with the juniors, being an assistant coach in 2012. Since then, she has helped train the national team.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

• The 2016 season marked the second time the Beavers reached the NCAA Tournament under the direction of head coach Laura Berg, as well as the 11th time in program history.

• Oregon State last reached the NCAAs in 2013, Berg's first year as head coach.

• The Beavers also reached the tournament in Berg's first year as an assistant coach in 2012. Before 2012, OSU had not reached the tournament since 2007.

• Berg and former head coach Kirk Walker (1995-2012) are the only head coaches in program history to reach the NCAA.

Tournament.

FOLLOW BERG

• Head coach Laura Berg is in her fifth season.

• Has guided the Beavers to two NCAA Tournament appearances.

• Holds a 133-123-1 overall record and 34-74 in Pac-12 games.

WORKING UP THE RECORD BOOK

• A number of Beavers have made their way into the Oregon State record books in various categories.

• Senior Natalie Hampton has solidified her name in the books in three categories; home runs, batting average and RBI.

• Hampton ranks tied for fourth in home runs with 36 career bombs, seventh in batting average with a mark of .314 and first in RBI with 154.

• Sophomore Meehra Nelson had a record breaking freshman year, as she set the single-season saves record with seven and ranks seventh all-time in saves in her second season.

• Junior McKenna Arriola is working up the ranks as she is sixth all-time in runs scored with 111.

For more information on the Oregon State softball team, follow the team's official Twitter and Instagram accounts at @BeaverSoftball or by Facebook at /BeaverSoftball.

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Players Mentioned

McKenna Arriola

Taylor Cotton

Alysha Everett

Natalie Hampton

Meehra Nelson

Sammi Noland