No. 7 Ranked OSU Softball Tops No. 6 California, 1-0

Win earns Oregon State first ever Women's College World Series Appearance.

Photo Courtesy: OSU Communications

CORVALLIS - The No. 7 ranked Oregon State softball team posted a 1-0 victory over No. 6 ranked University of California in Sunday`s NCAA Super Regional championship game. With the victory, the Beavers earn their first-ever Women`s College World Series berth.

In similar fashion to the opening game of the day, Oregon State (43-14) took an early advantage. Three straight singles by Cambria Miranda, Mia Longfellow and Adrienne Alo to open the contest and a sacrifice fly to center field from senior Vanessa Iapala gave Oregon State a 1-0 edge that would prove to be the difference in the game.

The 1-0 lead was all that junior pitcher Brianne McGowan (29-7) needed to work with, as the 6-2 hurler dominated in the circle and tossed a no-hitter until a one-out single by Chloe Kloezman in the top of the fifth.

The Bears (48-14) got a runner on base in both the sixth and seventh innings but Oregon State`s defense held fast and kept Cal from securing an eighth straight trip to the World Series.

Oregon State turned a crucial 5-4-3 double play after Emily Friedman`s lead-off seventh inning single and McGowan forced Kloezman to line-out to Longfellow at shortstop to give the Beavers the win.

“It was great to see these athletes take hold of a goal and go for it,“ said OSU 12th year head coach Kirk Walker. “They were absolutely determined, it was going to be everything we had and go to Oklahoma City - it was just phenomenal.“

McGowan (29-7) finished with nine strikeouts and earned her second shutout of the day and 10th of the season.

2006 Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year Kristina Thorson (36-10) had eight strikeouts in the final game of her collegiate career.

Oregon State will face No. 3 ranked University of Arizona (49-10) in the WCWS opening round on Thursday, June 1st in Oklahoma City, OK. First-pitch is scheduled for 10:00 AM PDT with the game televised by ESPN2.

Corvallis/Albany radio station KTHH (990 AM) will air all of Oregon State`s games from Oklahoma City with Jon Warren making the call.

Four Pacific-10 Conference teams reached the eight-team WCWS field – Oregon State, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA – Texas, Tennessee, Alabama and Northwestern also qualified.

Tickets can be purchased through the Oklahoma City All Sports Association by calling 405-236-5000.

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