Oregon State
10-6
Nevada
5-10
Beavers Bounce Back From Opening Loss
February 27, 2020 | Softball
Honolulu, Hawaii. – Oregon State softball (11-6) split action on day one of the Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament falling in game one to Nevada, 1-0, in extra innings before taking down Hawaii, 2-1.
Freshman Xiao Gin led the charge for the Beavers in both game going 4-for-7 with a double and a stolen base on the day.
Vs. Nevada
Gin started things in the top of the first with a single down the left-field line and stole second to put a runner in scoring position with two outs. Despite the effort, OSU left her stranded.
Nevada's first attempt to strike came in the bottom of the second when the batter started with a double and then advanced to third on a single. Senior Trystan Melancon came up with two crucial strikeouts to get the Beavers out of the inning unscratched.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Wolfpack were poised to strike after getting two runners on off of back-to-back walks. Sophomore Ashton Phillips made a diving catch in center field to help get Oregon State out of the inning and spark OSU's offense.
Morgan Allen got on base in the fifth off an error by Nevada's third baseman. Sophomore Izzy Owen followed with a single to the shortstop that allowed Allen to make it all the way to third. The Beavers went on to leave runners on the corners to end the inning and keep things scoreless.
Both sides maintained strong pitching and defense for the remainder of the game with Melancon picking up her fourth strikeout of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning to push things to extras.
Following the international tie-breaker rule, OSU started with Karla Calderon on second. The Beavers attempted to advance her to third, but Nevada got both the batter and Calderon out. Owen attempted to keep things alive with a single into shallow-right center but OSU left her stranded.
Nevada closed things in the bottom of the eighth after advancing the runner on second on a sac bunt and scored off a single into right field to win, 1-0.
Melancon pitched 7.1 innings with five strikeouts as she falls to 4-1 on the season.
Vs. Hawaii
In the second game of the night, Gin doubled down the left-field line and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Although she was in scoring position, OSU left her stranded.
Hawaii jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the second inning. UH got a runner the leadoff on with a single through the left side, but the Beavers turned a 163 double play to get two outs. The Wahine's next batter hit a double into right center and advanced to third and then home off two passed balls. Junior pitched Mariah Mazon got OSU out of the inning with a strikeout, but Hawaii maintained a 1-0 lead after the second.
The Beavers looked like they might get things going in the third and fourth innings with Gin singling in the third and Mazon smoking one up the middle in the fourth but OSU left them both stranded.
Hawaii got another runner on in the bottom of the fourth, but junior Missy Nunes made the throw down to second to catch the runner attempting to steal.
Oregon State pushed ahead to take the lead in the top of the sixth inning after Gin singled through the right side. Nunes followed with a home run over the left fence with one out for a two-run homer.
OSU maintained the 2-1 lead through the remainder of the game to take game two of the day.
Mazon pitched 7.0 innings and finished with nine strikeouts to improve to 6-5 on the season.
Up Next
OSU is back tomorrow for the second day of the Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament to take on Seattle at 4:30 p.m. PT before facing Hawaii at 9 p.m. PT.
For more information on the Oregon State softball team, visit OSUBeavers.com or follow the team @BeaverSoftball on Twitter and Instagram.
OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: FRITZ,K (4-4)
L: Melancon, Trystan (4-1)
Base Running:
SB: Gin, Xiao 1
Batting:
2B: SALAUSA,A 1
RBI: LEW,D 1
SH: BURDA,H 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SELLERS,J 1
