CORVALLIS, Ore. – Heading south, the Oregon State softball team will open action in 2024 at the USF-Rawlings Invitational in Tampa, Fla., where they will match up with Bethune-Cookman, 24th-ranked Florida, Illinois State, South Florida and Michigan. The three-day event is hosted by South Florida.
This weekend’s play will mark a few firsts for the Beavers as it will be the first time in program history that OSU will compete in Florida and the first time they will play in the Eastern Time Zone in the regular season since the 2003 campaign.
Opponent Day/Time (PT) Stats/Stream
Bethune-Cookman Feb. 9/9:30 a.m. StatBroadcast
Florida Feb. 9/2:30 p.m. StatBroadcast
Illinois State Feb. 10/8:30 a.m. StatBroadcast
South Florida Feb. 10/1:30 p.m. StatBroadcast/ESPN+
Michigan Feb. 11/6:30 a.m. StatBroadcast
Leading Off
• Oregon State and Florida will meet for the first time since the 2022 Women’s College World Series.
• Opening day will mark the first OSU game in the Eastern Time Zone since the 2022 Knoxville Regional final (a 3-1 win over No. 11 Tennessee) in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Beavs will play their 20th and 21st games against opposition from the Sunshine State. OSU has faced Bethune-Cookman, Florida, FAU, FIU, FGCU, Florida State, South Florida and UCF.
• Before February ends, the Beavs will have played Bethune-Cookman twice, Florida, South Florida and UCF.
By the Numbers
1: This is the first time Oregon State will have played in Florida
1: This is the first time a season has opened in the Eastern Time Zone since 2003, which opened in Columbus, Ga.
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: The Beavers will play in five states this season: Oregon, Florida, California, Arizona and Washington
11: Abby Doerr’s team-leading 11 home runs in 2023 was the 10th-best single season mark in program history
12: It’s the 12th season of the Laura Berg era of Beaver softball
Hello Again
• Each opponent in the USF Rawlings Invitational is no stranger to Oregon State.
• The Beavers will meet Florida for the fifth time in program history and second time in the Berg era. OSU and UF last met in the 2022 WCWS where the Gators took a 7-1 decision. Sarah Haendiges fanned a pair but was charged with the loss after throwing 4.3 frames.
• The Beavs and host South Florida will meet for the first time in 21 years for the fifth time. OSU and USF have each taken two games in the series.
• With a 2-0 lead in the series, Oregon State will meet Bethune-Cookman for the third time. In less than a month’s time, the Beavers and Wildcats will meet again at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic back on the west coast.
• For the second consecutive year, OSU and Illinois State will battle. Last year in Tempe, Haendiges fanned six as the Beavs won a defensive battle at 1-0 to open the Littlewood Classic.
• Oregon State and Michigan will play for the 10th time in the series, one in which the Wolverines hold an 8-1 lead. These two sides will meet again in Fullerton, Calif., in the Judi Garman Classic.
OSU vs. the AAC
When the Oregon State meets South Florida on Saturday, it will be just the third game against an American Athletic Conference opponent since 2020 when the Beavers faced then-member, Houston, in the UH Classic. In that game, Logan Hulon – a 2024 transfer to OSU – fanned four Beavs in a 6-2 win for the Cougars.
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.
Adjust Your Clocks
Including 2024, OSU will have opened their last four seasons in each of the contiguous United States time zones
• 2024: Tampa, Fla. (Eastern) – USF-Rawlings Invitational
• 2023: Baton Rouge, La. (Central) – LSU Invitational
• 2022: Tempe, Ariz. (Mountain) – Candrea Classic
• 2021: Fullerton, Calif. (Pacific) – Easton Invitational
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 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)
