Beavers Close Regular Season at California

THE WEEK

• The Beavers will close the regular season this week at California.

• Oregon State will open the series with the Golden Bears on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m.

• The two teams will also play Friday afternoon at 3 p.m., and finish Saturday at 2 p.m.

• All three games will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks with Kate Scott and Kenzie Fowler serving as talent.

LOOKING AHEAD

• Following this week, the Beavers will look to make their return to the postseason for the second consecutive season.

• The selection show will be aired Sunday night at 7 p.m. (PT) on ESPN2.

BEAVERS AT A GLANCE

• The Beavers are 27-23 overall and 8-13 in league play after taking their second series against a top-10 conference opponent last weekend.

• Oregon State took games one and two against No. 10/11 Utah, including a one-hit shutout in the series opener.

• Senior Taylor Cotton was carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but a base-hit with two outs broke it up.

• The Beavers run-ruled No. 8/9 UCLA and a top-10 league opponent for the first time in program history in game one of the series on April 13.

• Natalie Hampton hit a 3-run walk-off against No. 8/9 UCLA in game three of the series to secure the series win for the first time in history.

• Redshirt senior, Natalie Hampton set the school RBI record with a RBI single in game two of the series at No. 10 Washington on April 8.

• Junior Alysha Everett earned Player of the Week honors April 17 after totaling seven RBIs in the series against the Bruins including four in the run-rule victory in game one.

• Senior Taylor Cotton as named Pitcher of the Week on March 7 after recording a pair of wins at the San Diego Classic, including throwing her first career no-hitter against Miami (Ohio).

• Junior McKenna Arriola will carry her six-game on-base streak into the final weekend. She has been walked at least once in the last six.

• Oregon State is ranked 30th in the toughest schedule this week. All nine Pac-12 teams ranked in the top 33.

• OSU is ranked No. 38 in the RPI this week.

• Alysha Everett ranks 103rd in the nation in toughest to strikeout with a 17.6 mark. She has struck out just eight times in 141 AB this season.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS

• The Golden Bears are 28-21 overall and 4-16 in the Pac-12 entering the final weekend.

• Cal started the preseason ranked tied at No. 24 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.

• The Bears finally knotched its first Pac-12 road win and their first win against a ranked opponent last weekend at No. 22 Arizona State.

• California was swept in five of its league series prior to playing ASU, including the last four.

• Junior Jazmyn Jackson was named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List by the Amateur Softball Association.

• Redshirt sophomore Zoe Conley leads the Golden Bears in the circle with a 192 innings pitched - second in the Pac-12 - and carries a 2.77 ERA and a 18-13 record into the final weekend.

• Cal ranks tied for first in triples with 10 as Jazmyn Jackson leads the team with three.

• Head coach for the Bears is Diane Ninemire in her 29th season.

SERIES HISTORY

• Cal holds a 81-37 all-time record against Oregon State.

• The Beavers are 3-7 in the last 10 games.

• Oregon State picked up its last win in Berkeley in 2015 when the Bears were ranked No. 17 in the polls.

• The last time the Beavers won the series was in 2007 at Cal and the Beavers were ranked No. 15 in the nation.

• Head coach Laura Berg is 3-7 against the Golden Bears.

BEAVERS WITHOUT BORDERS

• Beavers without Borders is a program that offers global service-learning experiences for student-athletes.

• The program has completed six service projects in Guatemala, Macedonia, Ethiopia and the Dominican Republic.

• Junior McKenna Arriola will be going to Costa Rica in June for seven days. This is the first time OSU will have a project in Costa Rica.

• Sophomores Kayleen Shafer and Michelle Sass will head to the Dominican Republic in August for 10 days - will be OSU's fifth year there.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

• The 2016 season marked the second time the Beavers reached the NCAA Tournament under the direction of head coach Laura Berg, as well as the 11th time in program history.

• Oregon State last reached the NCAAs in 2013, Berg's first year as head coach.

• The Beavers also reached the tournament in Berg's first year as an assistant coach in 2012. Before 2012, OSU had not reached the tournament since 2007.

• Berg and former head coach Kirk Walker (1995-2012) are the only head coaches in program history to reach the NCAA.

Tournament.

EVERETT NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Junior Alysha Everett was named the Player of the Week on April 17, after totaling seven RBIs in the series win over UCLA.

• She hit a series-high four RBIs in the run-rule win in game one.

• Everett finished the series hitting .625 and slugging 1.125% as the designated player.

• The seven RBIs in the series brought her April total to 19 runs batted in.

• Everett leads the team with a .582 slugging mark, 43 RBIs and 10 doubles.

COTTON EARNS 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.

HAMPTON SETS RBI RECORD

• Redshirt senior Natalie Hampton knocked a RBI-single in the 2-1 victory over No. 10 Washington on April 8, to record her 144th run batted in.

• She pasted Terrah Beyster (1997-00) who held the record for over a decade.

• Hampton set the single season RBI record as a freshman with 50, and matched it again during her redshirt junior season.

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 in her career.

• The redshirt senior has started in five different positions in her three years as a Beaver.

• The transfer from Nebraska has started at 3B, SS and 2B so far this season. In the past, she started games in RF and catcher.

• Even though she has played five positions, she has only committed 11 errors in 106 games.

CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

• The Oregon State softball team got things done off the field and in the classroom during the fall and winter terms.

• The Beavers recorded a team GPA of 3.12 over the fall, including 13 student-athletes with a 3.0 GPA or better.

• During the recent winter term, the team finished with a 3.10 GPA and 12 student-athletes above a 3.0.

COTTON SHRINKS ERA

• Lefty-pitcher Taylor Cotton has done some major shrinking to here ERA over her college career.

• The senior started her career playing at Cal and posting a 8.54 ERA in 13 appearances before transferring.

• Since at OSU, she has improved her average from a 7.52 as a sophomore to a 6.30 as a junior.

• This season she is carrying a 2.57 ERA and a 13-8 record. She has pitched more innings in 2017 than she did total her first three years in the circle.

COME ON BACK

• Head coach Laura Berg hung up her cleats after nearly 20-years of softball and spent a year with the LAPD in 2010-11 before returning to the game as an assistant coach for the 2012 season at Oregon State.

• Associate head coach Marcia Green also has experience with law enforcement. Green studied criminology at Fresno State and spend five years as a prison guard at Corcoran State Prison in California following graduation before starting coaching.

• Assistant coach Emily Freidman finished her pro-softball career in 2010 and turned to CrossFit. She rose up the ranks quickly in the sport and became one of the top female athletes in the world from 2012-14.

BERG NAMED HEAD COACH OF JWNT

• Head coach Laura Berg will continue her legacy with the USA National Softball team, but this time with the junior team.

• Head coach Berg will be the leader of the 2017 Junior Women's National Team and will lead the 17-player roster this summer.

• Berg has prior experience with the juniors, being an assistant coach in 2012. Since then, she has helped train the national team.

FOLLOW BERG

• Head coach Laura Berg is in her fifth season.

• Has guided the Beavers to two NCAA Tournament appearances.

• Holds a 135-124-1 overall record and 36-78 in Pac-12 games.

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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Players Mentioned

McKenna Arriola

Taylor Cotton

Alysha Everett

Natalie Hampton

Sammi Noland

Michelle Sass

Kayleen Shafer