CORVALLIS, Ore. – After securing a winning weekend in the opener in Tampa, the Oregon State softball team will return to action in the Fresno State Invitational.
Opponent Day/Time Stats/Stream
Saint Mary’s (Calif.) Feb. 16/1 p.m. StatBroadcast
Fresno State Feb. 16/7 p.m. StatBroadcast/MWN
Utah Valley Feb. 17/10 a.m. StatBroadcast
Fresno State Feb. 17/4 p.m. StatBroadcast/MWN
Utah Valley Feb. 18/9 a.m. StatBroadcast
Leading Off
• Following a 3-2 opening weekend, Oregon State will make their Pacific Time debut in Fresno, Calif.
• Oregon State will match up with Saint Mary’s (Calif.), Fresno State and Utah Valley in the Fresno State Invitational.
• With five hits in last week’s USF-Rawlings Invitational, Lici Campbell leads OSU with 12 total bases, a .357 batting average and .857 slugging percentage.
• Campbell’s two home runs places her second in the league, just one off the league’s top mark.
• Ellie Garcia is one of just three pitchers in the Pac-12 with an unblemished ERA, after the first weekend.
• Garcia and Logan Hulon both find themselves in the Pac-12’s top 10 in Ks. Hulon is in seventh with 11 while Garcia sits in 10th with 10.
By the Numbers
0: In 10.0 innings of work, Garcia has yet to yield a free pass to first. It marks the longest stretch in her career.
2: OSU had two – Madi Simon (Puerto Rico; silver) and Grace Messmer (Canada; bronze) – medal in the fall’s Pan-American games in Chile.
2: This is the second time zone Oregon State has played in so far in 2024. Last week, the Beavs played in Eastern Time at South Florida.
3: Garcia is one of three in the Pac-12 to have an unblemished 0.00 ERA after the opening weekend.
5: OSU had two five-run innings last weekend, in the neutral win over Bethune-Cookman and the road win at USF.
16: The Beavers will play their next 16 games in the Pacific Time Zone. In the final month-plus of the season, they’ll have 19 straight in PT.
21: Logan Hulon (11) and Ellie Garcia (10) combined to retire 21 by strikes in the first weekend of ’24.
Willamette Valley to San Joaquin Valley
• Oregon State will make its Pacific Time debut at the 2024 Fresno State Invitational
• The Beavers will partake in Fresno for the first time since the 2017 season, where they split their four games.
The Opposition
• Oregon State will face hosts Fresno State, Saint Mary’s (Calif.) and Utah Valley in Fresno.
• The Beavers and Bulldogs have faced each other on 30 instances. Fresno State leads the series at 21-8-1 but the series is even (2-2-1) in the Berg era.
• OSU took the last matchup – a 5-0 win – over the Bulldogs in the 2019 campaign.
• Oregon State and Saint Mary’s will meet for the 27th time in a series that the Beavs lead by a 22-4 margin and 1-0 under the direction of Berg. 2015 was the last meeting with the Gaels where OSU prevailed in a 13-8 game.
• The Beavers and Wolverines will meet for the second consecutive season and fourth and fifth times ever this season. In last year’s matchup, Morgan Howey’s homer was the difference in a 3-2 win.
Early Efficiency
• After the first weekend, four Beavs – Savanah Whatley (.375), Lici Campbell (.357), Eliana Gottlieb (.357) and Grace Messmer (.308) – have registered .300+ batting averages.
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.
Select Few Sisters
• Both Doerrs collected a hit in the 7-1 win at South Florida. The Coburg natives are one of just four sets of sisters in Division I softball to both have hits in the same game this season.
• Paige’s third inning double down the right field line was the first of her collegiate career, which also came in her debut. One at-bat later, she crossed home for the first time off Savanah Whatley’ssingle.
We Know a Few From Fresno State
• Coach Berg starred for the Bulldogs as a student-athlete, leading Fresno State to a national championship from three WCWS trips.
• Coach Green also played a big role for FS in her playing days. She went to the WCWS three times and finished as a national runner-up before joining the staff as an assistant.
Tough Tests Early and Often
• Off Softball America‘s preseason poll, OSU has 17 games against seven schools in the initial top 25. The Beavers will play: #2 Tennessee, #4 Stanford (3), #10 UCLA (3), #13 Utah (3), #16 Oregon (3), #22 Washington (3) and #24 Florida.
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 CollegeWorld 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)
