Beavers Hit the Road for Pac-12 Series at Arizona State

THE WEEKEND
• The Beavers will continue Pac-12 Conference action this weekend on the road, at Arizona State.
• Oregon State will face the Sun Devils in a three-game series starting on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
• The two teams will also play Sunday night at 7 p.m., and Monday afternoon starting at 1 p.m.
• The series will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks with Anne Marie Anderson and Kenzie Fowler serving as talent.

LOOKING AHEAD
• Following this weekend's Pac-12 road trip, the Beavers will return to Corvallis for their "bye" week and will play five non-conference games.
• OSU will travel to Portland State for the first game of a home-and-home matchup on Wednesday, March 29 starting at 5 p.m.
• Oregon State will then host BYU and UNLV March 31 - April 2, playing both teams twice at the OSU Softball Complex.

BEAVERS AT GLANCE
• The Beavers will start their Pac-12 road schedule 15-11 overall and 0-3 in the Pac-12 after being swept by No. 5/4 Arizona last weekend.
• OSU is ranked No. 53 in RPI in the first ranks that came out this week.
• The Beavers scored four runs against the Wildcats in the final game of the series which was the most UA had given up all season and the most the Beavers had scored against the 'Cats since the 2012 season.
• Redshirt senior, Natalie Hampton, is three RBI shy of setting the school record. She sits at 141 ribbies entering the road trip.
• Senior, Taylor Cotton picked up Pitcher of the Week honors March 7 after recording a pair of wins at the San Diego Classic, including throwing a no-hitter against Miami (Ohio).

SERIES HISTORY
• Arizona State holds a 77-35 all-time record against Oregon State.
• The Beavers have lost six of the last 11 games against Arizona State.
• OSU has never swept ASU in a three-game series since the start in '87.
• The Beavs swept the Devils in 2016 in a two-game series in Corvallis.
• Laura Burg is 5-6 against Arizona State with her last win in the series last year with a 4-3 victory in Corvallis.
• The Beavers are 14-34 when playing at the Farrington Softball Stadium; OSU picked up a win in 2015, which was the first in Tempe since 2007.

SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS

• The Sun Devils are 21-8 overall and 0-3 in the Pac-12 after being swept at Washington to start their league schedule.
• ASU picked up two non-conference wins on Wednesday defeating New Mexico State twice.
• The Devils are ranked 21st in this week's NFCA/UCA Today poll and 24th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
• ASU is one of five league teams appearing in the Polls.
• Entering the week, Arizona State boasts the nation's 14th best ERA, with 1.38 mark through the first six weeks of the season.
• Arizona State checked in at No. 33 in the first set of NCAA RPI rankings, released early this week.
• Chelsea Gonzales leads the Sun Devils with a .390 batting average, including hitting 10 extra-base hits and six home runs. She also ranks in the Pac-12 top 10 in RBI with 26 and slugging percentage with a .747 mark.
• ASU has two pitchers who have tallied seven wins. Dale Ryndak and Breanna Macha both have notched their seventh wins and both carry under 2.00 ERA.
• Both pitchers also rank in the league with the least walks allowed with Ryndak giving five freebies in 54 innings and Macha with 11 in 68 frames.
• The ASU pitching staff has walked just 36 batters in 29 games.
• Head coach for the Sun Devils is Trisha Ford in her 1st season.

COTTON PITCHER OF THE WEEK

• Senior Taylor Cotton was named the Pitcher of the Week on March 7, after recording a pair of wins at the San Diego Classic.

• Cotton recorded her first career no-hitter against Miami (Ohio) and another shutout against San Diego over the weekend.

• She finished with a 0.86 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.

FOLLOW BERG

• Head coach Laura Berg is in her fifth season.

• Has guided the Beavers to two NCAA Tournament appearances.

• Holds a 123-119-1 overall record and 28-65 in Pac-12 games.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE
• Sammi Noland has been named a "Swiss Army Knife" by head coach Laura Berg for the many different positions she has started.
• The red-shirt senior has started in five different positions in her three years as a Beaver.
• The transfer from Nebraska has started at third, short and second so far this season. In the past, she started games in right field and catcher.

RBI RECORD

• Red-shirt senior, Natalie Hampton is three RBI away from setting Oregon State's career runs batted in record.

• The Antelope, Calif., native has blasted 141

• She started her career setting the single-season RBI record with 50 as a freshman and matched her recorded again as a red-shirt junior.

• She needs three RBI to pass recorded holder

Beavers Hit the Road for Pac-12 Series at Arizona State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Taylor Cotton

Natalie Hampton

Sammi Noland

Beavers Hit the Road for Pac-12 Series at Arizona State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Taylor Cotton

Natalie Hampton

Sammi Noland

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