Beavers Travel to Palm Springs for Marry Nutter Classic

THE WEEKEND

• The Beavers will close the month of February at the Mary Nutter Classic in Palm Springs, California from Feb. 24-26.

• Oregon State will face a five different opponents during the three days, which include Long Beach State, North Carolina State, Houston, Nebraska and St. John's (New York).

SCOUTING THE 49ers

• Long Beach State enters the Classic 4-3-1 after starting the season hosting the Beach Kickoff Tournament last week.

• The Beach recorded wins against South Dakota, Notre Dame, San Diego State and CSU Bakersfield, including a tie with Weber State.

• The 49ers suffered losses to South Dakota and a pair of Pac-12 opponents, Washington and Utah.

• The 49ers will play Oklahoma State and Texas A&M before playing the Beavers on Friday night.

• Long Beach State was tabbed to finish second-place in the Big West in the preseason coaches poll.

• The Beach returns seven position starters from the 2016 team that reached the NCAA Regionals last season.

• The 49ers return some strength in the circle as Christina Clermont is back for her third season after earning first-team All-Big West honors her first two seasons and the 2015 Big West Co-Pitcher of the Year.

• Long Beach State's opponents hold a 28-26 advantage in scoring.

• Sammi Gyerman leads the 49ers offense with a .400 average and eight hits.

• Head coach for the 49ers is Kim Sowder in her 11th season.

• The Beavers and The Beach will meet for the 12th time as Oregon State holds a 6-5 record after the teams last met in 2013.

SCOUTING THE WOLFPACK

• NC State will enter the weekend 2-7 after starting the season at the Florida Atlantic Kickoff Classic and hosting ACC/B1G Challenge.

• The Pack picked up wins against Bethune-Cookman and Boston in the opening weekend.

• NC State suffered losses to No. 23/23 Florida Atlantic, Troy and Michigan State, before getting shut down twice against No. 11/10 Michigan and No. 13 Minnesota last week.

• The Wolfpack will play NM State, No. 6/4 UCLA and No. 4/5 Oklahoma before facing the Beavers on Friday night.

• Tyler Ross was named a Preseason Honorable Mention All-American by Fastpitch News and checked in at No. 30 on their Preseason Top 50 Hitters list after garnering second team All-Southeast Region honors in 2016 after breaking the program record with 55 runs scored and 27 stolen bases in a single season and hitting 18 home runs.

• Ross is 4-of-5 in stolen bases this season, which is the highest among the conference and T27th among the NCAA rankings. She has 41 in her career, which is the second highest in program history.

• NC State's opponents hold a 62-21 advantage in runs scored.

• Jade Caraway and Molly Hutchison lead the NC State with nine hits.

• Head coach for the Wolfpack is Shawn Rychcik in his fourth season.

• The Beavers and Bears will meet for the just the second time with Oregon State recording the inaugural win back in 2014.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS

• Houston will enter the weekend 5-7 after starting the season hosting the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational and the Houston Classic.

• The Cougars finished the Invitational 2-4, picking up wins against UC Santa Barabara and Boston College. Houston also recorded a pair of wins during the Classic against Rhode Island and Incarnate Word.

• Houston suffered losses to Wright State twice, Wichita State and Boston College at the Invitational. UH dropped a pair of games against No. 4/6 Oklahoma and Ole Miss during the Classic.

• The Cougars will play Cal State Fullerton Thursday and Utah on Friday before facing the Beavers on Saturday afternoon.

• UH is led by Maya Thomas who is batting .485, with 16 hits and carries a .514 on-base percentage. Arielle James also adds to the offense with her .400 batting average and 16 hits, including two doubles and a home run. Shelby Miller holds the biggest bat with her 12 hits and seven home runs totaling 19 RBI and slugging .944.

• Head coach for the Cougars is Kristin Vesely in her 1st season as head coach and seventh at UH.

• The Beavers and Cougars will meet for just the second time. The too first played each other in 2009 with UH recording the win.

SCOUTING THE HUSKERS

• Nebraska enters the Mary Nutter Classic 0-8 after dropping four games at both the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge and the ACC/B1G Challenge.

• All six opponent that the Huskers have played have been either receiving votes or ranked in the national polls.

• Nebraska has been outscored 11-60 in its eight games, including three games that have been stopped short.

• NU has seen seven Huskers earn starting spots at multiple positions through the season's first eight games.

• All-America third baseman MJ Knighten is the only Husker who has started all eight games at the same position. Knighten and junior Austen Urness are the only two Huskers who have started all eight games.

• Head coach for the Huskers is Rhonda Revelle in her 25th season.

• The Beavers and Nebraska will meet for the 16th time as the Huskers hold a 10-5 record with the last meeting back in 2015.

SCOUTING THE RED STORM

• St. John's will enter the weekend 4-5 after starting the season at the USF-Wilson DeMarini Classic and the FAU Invitational.

• The Red Storm suffered losses to No. 4/3 Florida in its season opener and also to No. 6 Michigan and Illinois State.

• St. John's also dropped games to Syracuse and Florida Atlantic.

• SJU will play Bethune Cookman, Stanford and Ohio State before playing OSU on Sunday morning.

• The Red Strom have outscored their opponents 34-31.

• Lauren Zick and Gretchen Bowie both lead the squad with 10 hits each. Bowie also has two doubles and three triples.

• Head coach for the Red Strom is Amy Kvilhaug in her 10th season.

• The Beavers and Red Strom will meet for the first time in program history.

HELLO OLD FRIEND

• Oregon State will face Nebraska during the Mary Nutter Classic on Feb. 26 and it will be familiar to see red jerseys for red-shirt senior Sammi Noland.

• Noland transferred to Oregon State following her sophomore year at Nebraska.

• The Tucson, Arizona native appeared in 19 games for the Huskers, including making three starts as the designated player.

FOLLOW BERG

• Head coach Laura Berg is in her fifth season.

• Has guided the Beavers to two NCAA Tournament appearances.

• Holds a 114-103-1 overall record and 28-65 in Pac-12 games.

LOOKING AHEAD

• Following this weekend's action at the Mary Nutter Classic, the Oregon State softball team will continue its 2017 non-conference slate with a trip to San Diego, Calif., from March 3-5 for the San Diego Classic.

• The Beavers opponents that weekend include Miami (Ohio), UC-Davis, McNeese State, Detroit Mercy and San Diego.

• Following the San Diego Classic, the Beavers will close out the non-conference tournament schedule in California with the Fresno State Classic (March 10-12).

Beavers Travel to Palm Springs for Marry Nutter Classic

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sammi Noland

Beavers Travel to Palm Springs for Marry Nutter Classic

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sammi Noland

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