Oregon State
UCLA
Oregon State Softball Topples No. 13/14 UCLA, 8-2
April 16, 2016 | Softball
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Oregon State softball team's McKenna Arriola and Alysha Everett both tallied three hits to help the Beavers slug their way past the No. 13/14-ranked UCLA Bruins, 8-2, on Friday night at Easton Stadium.
Oregon State (26-12-1, 5-8) returns to Easton Stadium on Saturday for game two of the series at UCLA (26-12-1, 7-4-1), with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. PT. The weekend wraps up on Sunday with the series finale at noon PT.
Righty Meehra Nelson (15-6) picked up the win for Oregon State in 3.2 scoreless innings of relief, holding the Bruins to two hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Two of Arriola's three hits went for doubles, while amongst Everett's three hits was her first career home run.
Center fielder Jessica Garcia drove in two on her Pac-12 leading third triple of the season. The Beavers tallied five extra-base hits, while all eight of the Bruins' hits were singles.
“We did a very, very good job of executing whenever we had runners on,” Oregon State head coach Laura Berg said. “McKenna did a really good job of getting on base from the leadoff spot, and everyone did a really good job of putting pressure on their defense. They've got a phenomenal pitching staff at UCLA, and for our kids to see that they can hit that pitching definitely is a confidence booster.”
Senior right-hander Bev Miller did not factor into the decision in her 18th start of the season, as she did not throw the required number of innings (3.1 IP on Friday). The Portland, Ore. native held the Bruins to two runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
“We had all aspects of our game working today,” Berg said. “Bev came in pitching very well and Meehra came in and shut the door. Our defense made some very, very good plays.”
Oregon State scored in its first opportunity, pulling a pair of runs across home plate in the top of the first inning. Arriola dropped a bunt in front of the catcher on the very first pitch of the evening to set the tone for the scoring frame, and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. In the next at-bat, both of Arriola and Mikela Manewa were safe, as Arriola beat UCLA second baseman Kylee Perez back to second base on a fielder's choice. Each runner went on to score in the frame, as each of Natalie Hampton and Everett slugged RBI singles to give the Beavers a 2-0 lead at the end of the night's opening frame.
The Beavers added their third and fourth runs in the top of the fourth inning, with Everett opening the scoring frame on a leadoff solo shot to right. With Kayleen Shafer on base on a fielder's choice, three Beavers reached safely to manufacture the second run of the inning. Arriola joined Shafer on base on a four-pitch walk, and Shelby Weeks singled up the middle to load the bases for Manewa, who followed with another single to score Shafer from third and make it a 4-0 game.
UCLA scored its first runs in the home half of the fourth inning, matching the Beavers' two runs in the top half of the frame. With one out in the inning, UCLA's Brianna Tautalafua was the first to reach before the bases were loaded on a Paige Halstead walk and Jelly Felix single. A bases-loaded walk issued to the Bruins' Allexis Bennett and an RBI single by Kylee Perez cut the lead to 4-2, but Nelson got back-to-back strikeouts looking to limit the damage.
The Beavers added a run in the fifth on a Lovie Lopez RBI single, and followed with three insurance runs in the seventh on a Garcia two-run triple and an Arriola RBI double. The Bruins would not score for the remainder of the game, as the Beavers came away on Friday night with an 8-2 win.
For more information on the Oregon State softball team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/OregonStateSB, by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateSB or on Instagram at Instagram.com/OregonStateSB.
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