CORVALLIS, Ore. – Fresh off a bye week, the Oregon State softball team will return to action in the Emerald City, with a final nonconference game at Seattle U before resuming Pac-12 play against eighth-ranked Washington.
Opponent Day/Time Stream
at Seattle U March 27 / 5:30 p.m. ESPN+
at Washington March 28 / 6 p.m. UW Live Stream
at Washington March 29 / 6 p.m. UW Live Stream
at Washington March 30 / 1 p.m. UW Live Stream
Leading Off
• Oregon State last played over a week ago at Grand Canyon following a series win at Arizona State in Tempe.
• The Beavers split their first six Pac-12 games, dropping two of three to then-No. 21 Arizona before claiming their first road series against the Sun Devils.
By the Numbers
.526: Grace Messmer holds a .526 average at the dish in Pac-12 play this season. Included is three doubles and a triple to just one strikeout.
2: OSU had two – Madi Simon (Puerto Rico; silver) and Grace Messmer (Canada; bronze) – medal in the fall’s Pan-American games in Chile.
4: OSU will play these last four games outside of Oregon before spending the entire month of April inside the Beaver State.
4: Seattle U is the fourth opponent from the WAC that OSU has played since the beginning of 2023. In this time frame, the Beavers have also faced Grand Canyon, Utah Tech and Utah Valley.
4: Paige Doerr just had a four-game hitting streak, which is the longest of her season so far. It stretched the Arizona series and game one at PSU.
6: Down a run in the top of the seventh, OSU plated six to secure the series win over Arizona State in the Saturday game in Tempe. It’s the highest-scoring inning so far in 2024. All of the runs came with two outs.
19: The final 19 games of the season will all be in the Pacific Time Zone. Oregon State has played in the Eastern and Mountain Time Zones as well in 2024.
The Opposition
• OSU will close nonconference play with a midweek matchup against Seattle U on Wednesday evening.
• Resuming the Pac-12 slate, the Beavers will venture across town to Montlake for three against 8th-ranked Washington.
•The Beavers and Redhawks will meet for the 14th time and first since February 27, 2021 when the sides met at the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson. OSU holds a 10-3 lead in the series.
• Upon finishing the series, Oregon State and Washington will have met for the 103rd time.
• Following the Washington series, OSU will have played eight games against ranked opposition
• Despite dropping the series last year to the Huskies at Kelly Field, the Beavers closed it with a run-rule, 11-1 victory over then-No. 9 Washington. Frankie Hammoude became the program’s home run leader with a first-inning blast to straightaway center.
• Then-No. 5 Washington took the last meeting – a 1-0 pitcher’s duel – in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament in Tucson.
Welcome Back, Washingtonians!
• OSU has two Evergreen State natives on the team: Charity Sevaaetasi and Kaiea Higa
• Sevaaetasi is from Auburn and Higa hails from Maple Valley.
Sister, Sister (x2)
• The Beavs have two pairs of sisters on the team: Abby and Paige Doerr of Coburg, Ore., and Deja and Tiara Westbrook of Arcadia, Calif.
Those of Iron, Strength Will Never Yield
• Four Beavs – Lici Campbell, Kiki Escobar, Eliana Gottlieb and Grace Messmer – have played and started in all 29 games so far in 2024.
• Madi Simon has made 29 appearances with 28 starts. The outlier was the second game of the Portland State twinbill.
First Distinction for Doerr
• Paige Doerr was honored by the Pac-12 with the Freshman of the Week honors following the Arizona series (3/11).
• The Coburg, Ore., product went 4-for-9 (.444) in the series against then-No. 21 Arizona. She reahced base safely on seven occasions.• In the first inning of Friday’s first game, she hit her first career home run and followed it up in the second game with a bases-clearing, two-RBI single.
Putting in Extra Work
• Oregon State has played in two extra-inning contests this season, both of which have come within the last month. The two are the most since 2022, when the Beavers played three that went longer than seven.
• Game two at Portland State went to 11 innings, marking the longest game for the Beavs since a 10-inning affair in a 2022 home win over Utah.
• It marked the first 11-inning game of the Berg era and first since a 9-7 setback in 11, which was in the Norman, Okla. Regional.
Beaver Staff Notes
• Beaver fans will see a mix of familiar and new faces inside the dugout this season.
• Marcie Green makes her return to Oregon State where she will lead the pitching staff. She was previously in Corvallis from 2013-2022 where she capped it off with a trip to the Women’s College World Series in her final season.
• Working primarily with the fielders and hitters, Matt Lisle joins Berg’s staff with years of experience in college softball, baseball and even Major League Baseball.
• Starting his journey from student manager in 2018, Dominic Garcia enters his first year as a member of the coaching staff. The Beaver alumnus worked his way up to head student manager to video coordinator last season and will oversee player development, technology and data.
• Entering her third year with the program is Sarah Hoechlin, who serves as the Director of Operations. The OSU alumna spent two years as a student manager before a stint with the Corvallis Knights.
Nine New Faces Join the Dam
• The Beavers welcomed nine new student-athletes, two transfers and seven freshmen.
• Hulon (Texas) and Deja Westbrook (Cal Baptist) came via the transfer portal to Corvallis.
• Alysa Del Val, Doerr, Leah Mays, Kaylee Oh, Taverli Tennant, Tiara Westbrook and Ashley Wolfe all are freshmen.
Softball America Accolades
• Kiki Escobar was tabbed by the publication as the sixth-best second baseman in their preseason rankings.
• In their Top 100 List, she was ranked 95th while Sarah Haendiges placed a few spots ahead at 87th.
OUR MISSIONOregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS)
