OSU Beavers Sports Fast Facts

Salem-News.com Sports

CORVALLIS - BEAVERS IN NCAA SUPER REGIONAL ACTION: Oregon State is making its first NCAA Super Regional appearance - the Super Regional format began in 2005, prior to the format change the NCAA Regional Tournament consisted of eight teams. The Beavers have advanced to the round of 16 three times in the past four years. OSU is looking to make its first trip to the Women`s College World Series.

The Super Regional format features a best two out of three game series. The eight Super Regional champions will make up the field for the Women`s College World Series.

FAST FACT: The Oregon State and California match-up is the only Super Regional that features a pair of teams ranked nationally in the Top 10 - The Beavers are No. 7 and the Bears are No. 6.

SCOUTING No. 6 RANKED CALIFORNIA: The No. 6 ranked and No. 11 seeded California Golden Bears enter the week with a 47-12 overall record and have won nine of their last 11 games, including a perfect 3-0 mark at the Iowa Regional Tournament. Cal has made seven consecutive Women`s College World Series appearances and won the national title in 2002. Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year Kristina Thorson holds a 0.79 ERA with a 35-8 overall record and has 438 strikeouts on the season. A trio of Bear batters are hitting around the .370 mark, with senior outfielder Lindsay James` .382 clip leading the way. Haley Woods chips in a .374 batting average with 16 home runs and 14 doubles, while freshman Morgan Siegel is hitting .372.

BEAVERS AND BEARS SERIES NUMBERS: California leads the all-time series with Oregon State, 60-27, but the Beavers are 14-26 against Cal with Kirk Walker at the helm. The Bears won the season series earlier in the year, but the Beavers won the season series in 2005. OSU has picked up at least one victory against Cal in nine consecutive seasons. Over the last 10 games played in Corvallis, the Beavers hold a 6-4 edge in the series.

EARLIER THIS SEASON AGAINST CALIFORNIA IN BERKELEY (APRIL 8th-9th): In the opening game of the series on April 8th, California ace Kristina Thorson completely shut down the OSU offensive attack - recording 12 strikeouts in five innings of scoreless relief. The Bears used a home run from designated player Gina Leomiti and an RBI single from Alex Sutton to provide the game`s lone scoring. The following day, Sutton hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning in a scoreless game to lead Cal past Oregon State by a similar 2-0 margin. The game shaped up to be a pitcher`s dual between Thorson and OSU`s Ta`Tyana McElroy. McElroy allowed just four hits in the complete game - two were by Sutton. Thorson amassed 13 strikeouts while scattering three hits. On the weekend, the Beavers left 14 runners stranded on base and Thorson compiled 25 K`s.

EARLIER THIS SEASON AGAINST CALIFORNIA IN CORVALLIS (APRIL 28th): Oregon State sophomore Cambria Miranda led-off the game with her 14th home run of the season as the Beavers earned a 4-2 victory over California on April 28. The Bears scored a pair of runs in the third inning behind four consecutive 2-out hits against Beaver starter Brianne McGowan, but the Beavers knotted the score when DeAnn Young hit an infield RBI single in the bottom half of the frame. OSU regained the lead for good when center fielder Natalie Johnson scored on Kristina Thorson`s wild pitch in an attempt to intentionally walk Stefanie Ewing. Junior pitcher Ta`Tyana McElroy struck out five of the 13 batters she faced in relief en route to the victory.

SUCCESS AGAINST THE BEARS: Oregon State junior pitcher Ta`Tyana McElroy has thrown 11.1 innings against California this year and earned OSU`s victory against the Bears during the regular season. In three appearances, McElroy has allowed just six hits and two runs against Cal while striking out nine batters.

PAC-10 POSTSEASON: Seven Pacific-10 Conference teams reached the 2006 NCAA Regional Tournament - marking the eighth straight season that at least seven of the eight conference teams have reached the postseason - and all seven squads advanced to the Super Regional round. Last year marked the 22nd time in 24 years that the Pac-10 sent at least one team to the Women`s College World Series championship game. The Pac-10 has won 17 NCAA softball championships since 1982 - more than any other conference.

WATCHING FOR THE WINS: Oregon State junior pitcher Brianne McGowan needs just two victories to move into a tie for second place on the OSU career charts for all-time victories. McGowan enters the week in fourth place with 73 career victories - Crystal Draper (1999-02) has 74 wins, while Monica Hoffman (2001-04) has 75. Tarrah Beyster (1997-00) holds the Oregon State record with 91 career victories.

HOME RUN CENTRAL: Sophomore utility player Cambria Miranda matched the Oregon State single season record for home runs after going deep for the 16th time of the year against No. 19 Baylor in the NCAA Regional Tournament championship game (May 21). Miranda matched Tarrah Beyster`s mark of 16 home runs set during the 2000 campaign. Miranda held a .500 batting average (5-for-10) with a pair of home runs and a 1.100 slugging percentage in three Regional Tournament games.

FROM THE BATTERS BOX: Oregon State enters the week with an amazing eight different players on the roster batting above .300. The Beavers currently hold a .289 team batting average - the highest batting average in program history since joining the Pacific-10 Conference in 1987 (OSU finished the 2003 campaign with a .274 clip from the plate). Junior shortstop Mia Longfellow leads the team with a .331 (58-for-175) clip from the plate to go along with a team-leading 14 doubles. Sophomore utility player Cambria Miranda ranks second on the team with a .324 (58-for-179) batting average. Miranda has scored an OSU single season record 49 runs and leads the squad with 16 homers. Freshman DeAnn Young ranks third on the squad with a .313 (42-for-134) average. Young has hit above .300 throughout the season and ranks third on the team in home runs (7) and slugging percentage (.545). Senior outfielder Adrienne Alo is hitting a career-best .303 (50-for-165) with 29 runs scored and a team-best 36 RBI.

FROM THE CIRCLE: Beaver junior pitchers Brianne McGowan (27-6) and Ta`Tyana McElroy (14-7) combined to win 28 consecutive appearances before Oregon State dropped its 3-2 8-inning contest against No. 9 Arizona State on April 1. McGowan has amassed 223 strikeouts in 231.1 innings of work, while McElroy has 94 K`s in 120.0 innings of action. McGowan has totaled 652 career strikeouts - the fourth highest total of any pitcher in OSU history and she is the only hurler to tally back-to-back 200-plus strikeout seasons.

THIS, THAT, AND THE OTHER: Six of Oregon State`s 13 losses on the season have been by just one run...Shortstop Mia Longfellow is the only player to start every game of the season in the same position...Cambria Miranda ranks second in the Pac-10 in runs scored with 49 and is tied for the conference lead in home runs with 16...Junior Brianne McGowan has tallied 17 RBI with 2-outs...Oregon State is 29-3 when scoring first...The Beavers are 28-1 on the season when tallying more hits than their opponent...OSU is a perfect 3-0 in postseason games at the OSU Softball Complex.

BEAVERS IN THE TOP 25: Oregon State finished the regular season with a No. 7 ranking in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll. Seven Pacific-10 Conference squads ranked in the Top 25; 1. UCLA, 3. Arizona, 6. California, 7. Oregon State, 9. Arizona State, 10. Stanford, 17. Washington. The Beavers hold a No. 9 ranking in the final ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll. OSU posted a program-best No. 5 ranking in both polls on May 3.

FACING THE BEST: The No. 7 ranked Beavers hold a 15-12 record this season against teams ranked in the Top-25. The Beavers finished the 2005 season with 16 victories against opponents ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Top-25 Poll.

BEATING THE COMPETITION: Oregon State has an advantage over its opponents in several statistical categories:

- Batting average: .289-.229

- Runs scored: 256-124

- RBI: 235-111

- Home Runs: 55-29

- Total bases: 649-458

- Slugging percentage: .457-.332

- Earned run average: 2.04-4.16

THE WINNING STREAK: No. 7 ranked Oregon State reeled off a school record 28 consecutive victories from Feb. 11-Mar. 31. The winning streak was the longest in the nation this season and marked the longest in Division I softball since University of Arizona won 32 in a row in 2002. The 28-game streak ranks in a tie for 16th place all-time in the NCAA Division I record book. Oregon State became one of just 11 teams in NCAA history to win 28 straight games.

THE NUMBERS BREAKDOWN: Oregon State returns 13 players from last season`s squad that finished with a 43-16 overall record and earned a share of the Pacific-10 Conference championship (the first regular season Pac-10 championship for any women`s sport in Oregon State history). OSU earned the Pac-10`s automatic berth to the NCAA Regional Tournament as the Beavers made their seventh consecutive postseason appearance. The Beavers reached the Regional Tournament championship game for a fifth time in the last seven years, before falling to DePaul University. The Beavers return eight defensive starters from a year ago, as well as three pitchers - including Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year and first team All-American Brianne McGowan.

OSU SOFTBALL COMPLEX: Oregon State currently holds a 58-34 all-time record in games played at the OSU Softball Complex. The Beavers boast a 23-30 mark against opponents ranked in the Top 25. OSU finished the 2006 regular season campaign with a 12-5 mark in Corvallis and is a perfect 3-0 in postseason games at the OSU Softball Complex.

PAC-10 COACHES POLL: In a preseason poll voted on by the Pac-10 coaches, Oregon State was tabbed to finish fifth in the conference - the exact spot where the Beavers finished the 2006 campaign. Last year`s defending national championship runner-up, UCLA, was picked to finish first.

2005 PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE CO-CHAMPIONS: Oregon State earned a share of the 2005 Pacific-10 Conference championship - the first regular season Pac-10 title for any women`s sports team in Oregon State history. OSU, Arizona, California, and Stanford all finished with 13-8 records in conference play. The Beavers won the tie-breaker to earn the Pac-10`s automatic berth to the NCAA Regional Tournament. For the first time in program history, Oregon State won the season series against five conference opponents (Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Washington).

IN THE DUGOUT: Crissy Buck, a former player for the 1999 NCAA Champion UCLA Bruins, enters her fourth season at Oregon State. Buck was promoted to the first assistant position in September of 2004. A four-year letterwinner, Buck graduated from UCLA in 2002. Former OSU standout shortstop Shawna Feldt joins Oregon State for her first season as an assistant. A three-time All-Pacific-10 Conference honoree, Feldt helped lead the Beavers to three straight NCAA Regional Tournament appearances before graduating in 2001. She dominates the OSU record book with her name dotting eight different career batting categories. Former Beaver player and assistant coach Heather Smith moves into the newly created position of Director of Softball Operations. Smith spent four seasons as an assistant. The first recruit to sign a letter of intent to play for Kirk Walker, Smith, was a member of OSU`s squad from 1995-99 and helped the Beavers make their first NCAA Regional Tournament appearance.

THE WORD ON WALKER: Head coach Kirk Walker is in his 12th season at the helm for the Beavers. Walker, a graduate of UCLA, has turned around Oregon State`s softball program to make it a contender on a national scale. Walker has led the Beavers to seven consecutive NCAA Regional Tournament appearances. The winningest coach in program history, Walker, has an overall coaching record of 418-321-3 and a 90-189 mark in the Pacific-10 Conference. Walker guided the 2005 Beavers to a share of the Pacific-10 Conference title and earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career. Walker and his staff were honored as the Speedline Pacific Region Coaching Staff of the Year after their efforts in 2005. He earned his 400th career victory earlier this season when Oregon State rallied for a 2-1 8-inning win against BYU in the home opener on Mar. 25, 2006. Walker was selected as one of just 12 coaches named to the USA Softball National Team Coaches Pool, and serves as an assistant coach for the USA Elite Team. Prior to his arrival at Oregon State, Walker spent 11 seasons at national powerhouse UCLA as a manager and assistant coach. During his time in Westwood, the Bruins won six NCAA titles and made 10 appearances in the College World Series.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports