Beavers Close Non-Conference Travel Schedule at Fresno

THE WEEKEND

• The Beavers will close their non-conference travel schedule with four games at the Fresno State Classic this weekend.

• The Classic is hosted by Fresno State and all games will be played at Margie Wright Diamond.

• Oregon State will play Fresno State and Sacramento State twice.

• Following the Classic, the Beavers will return to Corvallis and open its home schedule, hosting No. 7 Minnesota on Monday at 1 pm.

SCHEDULE

Friday, 5:30 pm: Oregon State vs. Fresno State

Saturday, 12:30 pm: Oregon State vs. Sacramento State

Saturday, 6 pm: Oregon State vs. Fresno State

Sunday, 9 pm: Sacramento State vs. Oregon State

• Home team is in BOLD and all games will be played at Margie Wright Diamond.

LOOKING AHEAD

• Following this weekend's action at the Fresno State Classic, the Oregon State softball team will open its home schedule Monday hosting No. 7 Minnesota at 1 p.m., at the OSU Softball Complex.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

• Fresno State will enter the Classic 13-8 and will play No. 25 BYU at 2:30 pm, before playing Oregon State at 5:30 pm.

• The Bulldogs finished with a winning record last week at the Judi Garman Classic, picking up wins over Long Beach State, Iowa and Indiana.

• Fresno State fell to Northwestern and No. 8 Washington.

• The Bulldogs were tabbed to finish first in the Mountain West for the third-straight season.

• Fresno State returns 13 student-athletes, including the 2016 MN Player of the Year Kierra Willis.

• Other all-conference selections from 2016 include Lindsey Willmon and Malia Rivers.

• The Bulldogs started the preseason ranked No. 24 in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Coaches' Poll.

• Morgan Howe leads the Bulldogs with a .422 batting average with 19 hits, including four extra-base hits.

• Savannah McHellon paces the squad with four home runs and slugging .633 with 15 RBI.

• Vanessa Hernandez has recorded a team-high 17 RBI and 17 hits to go along with her 15 runs scored. She is batting .270 with six doubles.

• Kamalani Dung leads the Bulldogs in the circle with a 1.75 ERA and a 9-4 record. She has recorded four shutouts and struck out 62 batters in 76 innings pitched.

• Head coach for the Bulldogs is Linda Garza in her 1st season.

• The Beavers and the Bulldogs will meet for the 26th and 27th time at the Classic.

• Fresno State holds a 17-7-1 series advantage, with the last time the two played was in 2016.

SCOUTING THE HORNETS

• The Hornets will enter the weekend 4-7 after struggling at the Libby Matson Tournament last week.

• Sac State is 4-6 since playing Oregon State at the Paradise Classic on February 9.

• The Hornets will play three games in a mid-week tilt against Seton Hall on Tuesday and a doubleheader against Nevada on Wednesday.

• Sac State will also play BYU twice at the Fresno State Classic before playing Oregon State on Saturday afternoon.

• The Hornets returned six position starters from last season, including three pitchers.

• Celina Matthias was named the Big Sky Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2016 after finishing with a 20-13 record and a 2.94 ERA.

• Suzy Brookshire leads the team with a .367 batting average and two doubles, while Sydney Rasmussen adds the offense with a .346 average and slugging .564 with six RBI and three home runs.

• Celina Matthias has thrown the majority of the innings for the Hornets, posting a 4.48 ERA in 29 2/3 innings.

• Taylor Tessier also has thrown significant innings with 21 2/3 and striking out 22 batters, while carrying a 4.20 ERA.

• The Hornets hold a slight advantage in the series with a 12-11 positive after the Beavers defeated them earlier this season on Feb. 9, 6-3.

• The two teams were scheduled to play on Feb. 11 at the Paradise Classic, but inclement weather canceled the game.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE HORNETS

• The game was scoreless through the first three innings, before Natalie Hampton doubled in the fourth and Sammi Noland followed with a home run to left field.

• Lovie Lopez added to the lead in the fifth with a solo shot to left to increase the Beavers' lead to 3-0.

• The Beavers added three more runs in the seventh to cap their scoring.

• Oregon State was carrying a no-hitter entering the seventh, but two errors and three Hornet hits allowed three runs to score to avoid the shutout.

• Taylor Cotton recorded the win after starting the game and pitching five scoreless innings.

• Meehra Nelson came in as relief the final two innings and punched out three batters.

COTTON 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.

FOLLOW BERG

• Head coach Laura Berg is in her fifth season.

• Has guided the Beavers to two NCAA Tournament appearances.

• Holds a 121-106-1 overall record and 28-65 in Pac-12 games.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE

• Sammi Noland has coined the name "Swiss Army Knife" by head coach Laura Berg.

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

• The transfer from Nebraska has started at third, short and second so far this season. Last year she started games in right field and catcher.

RBI RECORD

• Red-shirt senior, Natalie Hampton is six RBI away from setting Oregon State's career runs batted in record.

• The Antelope, Calif., native has blasted 138 ribbies so far in her career.

• She started her career setting the single-season RBI record with 50 as a freshman and matched her recorded again as a red-shirt junior.

• She needs six RBI to pass recorded holder Tarrah Beyster who finished her career with 143.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN

• OSU head coach Laura Berg welcomed 10 players that started a game and 12 letter-winners back from the 2016 season.

• The squad also welcomed seven newcomers to start their careers at Oregon State.

• The Beavers have 19 student-athletes on the roster, including six of seven players that appeared in 48 or more games last year.

• Of the 19 SA's on this year's roster, five started every game in 2016.

Beavers Close Non-Conference Travel Schedule at Fresno

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Taylor Cotton

Natalie Hampton

Lovie Lopez

Meehra Nelson

Sammi Noland

Beavers Close Non-Conference Travel Schedule at Fresno

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Taylor Cotton

Natalie Hampton

Lovie Lopez

Meehra Nelson

Sammi Noland

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