Cotton Blanks Stanford in Game One

Friday, April 21

Corvallis, Ore.

3:00 PM

Oregon State

23-18, 5-8

Stanford

17-23, 0-13

Stanford

Oregon State

April 21, 2017 | Softball

Box Score Box Score

By: Jeff Schmidt

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Taylor Cotton hurled a complete game shutout and recorded a conference season high nine strikeouts in a 6-0 victory against Stanford Friday afternoon. The lefty gave up just four hits and a pair of walks en route to her fifth shutout and eighth complete game of the season.

Sammi Noland and Shelby Weeks both had productive days in the dish combining for three RBIs and six of the 14 Beaver hits. McKenna Arriola, Alysha Everett and Lovie Lopez all finished with multiple hits in the game.

Stanford looked to jump on the scoreboard in the first inning after putting a pair of runners on, but a strikeout by Taylor Cotton ended any threat and got the Beavs off the field.

In the bottom half of the inning, Oregon State got on the board after Shelby Weeks crossed home on a wild pitch. The Beavers loaded the bases the following inning, but failed to add to their lead.

The Beavers offense exploded in the third frame after putting runners on the corners with one out for Sammi Noland. The senior hit her fifth double off the left-field fence to score a run and give the Beavs a 2-0 lead. OSU continued to build its advantage as Lovie Lopez followed with a single to right to clear the bases and increase the lead to four.

The Beavers defense continued to be solid, while the offense kept manufacturing runs. Weeks blasted her first home run of the season with a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth and Sammi Noland followed suit the following inning with her seventh bomb of the season to give the Beavers a 6-0 lead after five frames.

Cotton and company put the Cardinal down in order in the sixth and forced it to strand a runner in the top of the seventh to secure the victory.

Oregon State (23-18, 5-8 Pac-12) will its continue its home stand tomorrow with game two of the series starting at 1:00 p.m.

For more information on the Oregon State softball team, follow the team's official Twitter and Instagram accounts at @BeaverSoftball or by Facebook at /BeaverSoftball.

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