CORVALLIS, Ore. – On the road for the first time in April and first time in three weeks, the Oregon State softball team will resume the Rivalry Series in Eugene for a three-game set with the Ducks.
Opponent Day/Time Stream
Oregon April 19 / 5 p.m. Pac-12 Oregon
Oregon April 20 / 6 p.m. Pac-12 Networks
Oregon April 21 / 4 p.m. Pac-12 Networks
Leading Off
• The Rivalry Series resumes this weekend at Oregon’s Jane Sanders Stadium when the Beavers visit the Ducks for three.
• Oregon State will play its sole series away from Kelly Field this month before returning to host Utah in the final home series of 2024.
•The Beavers will look to snap a four-game losing streak in Eugene.
• OSU will look to keep the momentum against the Oregon after taking the finale over the Cardinal in dramatic fashion with the walkoff home run.
By the Numbers
.593: Grace Messmer has a team-best .593 slugging percentage in Kelly Field this season. She has five extra-base hits (four doubles and a triple) at the dish.
2: OSU had two – Madi Simon (Puerto Rico; silver) and Grace Messmer (Canada; bronze) – medal in the fall’s Pan-American games in Chile.
5: OSU has racked up five home wins against teams in the top-20 since last April. Wins have come over #8 Stanford, #9 Washington, #12 UCLA, #20 Oregon and #21 Arizona.
6: Logan Hulon has six appearances with five or more strikeouts this season. In her last two Pac-12 starts, she’s fanned a combined 21.
6: Six of OSU’s last nine games in the regular season are in the state of Oregon. The six are split between Kelly Field and in Eugene.
12: All 12 of Oregon State’s games in April will take place in the Beaver State. Nine will be in the comforts of Kelly Field with the remaining three at Oregon’s Jane Sanders Stadium.
300: Sunday’s upset of Stanford marked Head Coach Laura Berg’s 300th win of her career.
Rivalry Renewed
• OSU will meet Oregon in the latest installment of the Rivalry Series
• The Beavers snapped a six-game skid to the Ducks with a 4-0 win in the 2023 series finale.
• Oregon is coming off a closely-contested series loss in Tucson against Arizona. Needing extra innings, the Wildcats walked off the Ducks in eight to win the series.
• The two sides will meet for the 197th, 198th and 199th time.
• Oregon took all three meetings the last time they met in Eugene.
• OSU took last year’s finale – a 4-0 win – behind an Ellie Garcia complete game and an Abby Doerr home run.
Berg’s 300th
• The upset win over Stanford marked the 300th win of Laura Berg’s career.
• Inside the 300 includes five trips to the NCAA Tournament and even a run to the Women’s College World Series back in 2022.
Round Tripper Tidbits
• Oregon State improved to 4-0 on the season when they hit at least two home runs following Sunday’s win.
• Both Madi Simon (6th inning) and Lici Campbell (7th inning [walkoff]) launched (two-run) homers over the left field wall to help push the Beavers to the win over the Cardinal.
• All four of these instances have happened in Pac-12 play (3/8 v. Arizona (game 1), 3/15 at Arizona State, 3/16 at Arizona State and 4/14 vs. Stanford)
Leading the PAC
• Oregon State is the only school in the Pac-12 with three or more pitchers to have recorded at least 57 strikeouts this season.
• Logan Hulon leads the staff with 71 while Garcia has 61 and Sarah Haendiges follows with 57.
• Hulon’s 71 punchouts puts her in eighth among Pac-12 arms while Garcia and Haendiges sit at 12th and 13th, respectively.
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 40 games so far in 2024. Abby Doerr follows the quartet with 38 starts this season.
Putting in Extra Work
• OSU has played in three extra-inning contests this season, all of which took place last month and two were in the Beaver State.
• The three are the most in a season since 2022, which also had three.
• 2023 did not have any games go longer than seven frames.
• 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.
• For the second consecutive series finale at Washington, the game needed more than seven as the Beavs and Huskies played nine.
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.
