Oregon State to Open the 2021 Season in California
CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Oregon State softball team will open the 2021 season in California. The Beavers will be at Cal State Fullerton for the Easton Invitational on Friday and Saturday before heading to Los Angeles for a single game against Loyola Marymount on Sunday.
GAME INFORMATION
Easton Invitational - Feb. 12-13
SITE: Anderson Family Field
RECORDS:
OREGON STATE: 0-0, 0-0 Pac-12
UTAH STATE: 0-0, 0-0 Mountain West
CAL STATE FULLERTON: 0-0, 0-0 Big West
SERIES RECORDS:
UTAH STATE: Oregon State leads, 10-4
CAL STATE FULLERTON: Oregon State leads, 12-10
Oregon State vs Utah State
DATE: Friday, February 12
TIME: 1:00 PM PT
STREAM: FloSoftball
STATS: FullertonTitans.com
Oregon State vs Cal State Fullerton
DATE: Friday, February 12
TIME: 3:30 PT
STREAM: BigWest.TV
STATS: FullertonTitans.com
Oregon State vs Utah State
DATE: Saturday, February 13
TIME: 1:00 PT
STREAM: FloSoftball
STATS: FullertonTitans.com
Oregon State vs Cal State Fullerton
DATE: Saturday, February 13
TIME: 6:00 PT
STREAM: BigWest.TV
STATS: FullertonTitans.com
Oregon State at Loyola Marymount
DATE: Sunday, February 14
TIME: 12:00 PM PT
SITE: Smith Field - Los Angeles, Calif.
RECORDS: OSU 0-0, 0-0 Pac-12; LMU 0-0, 0-0 Big West
SERIES RECORD: Oregon State leads, 14-4
STREAM: LMULions.com
STATS: LMULions.com
*records as of 2/11/21
Oregon State notes | Utah State notes | Cal State Fullerton notes | Loyola Marymount notes (coming soon)
ABOUT THE BEAVERS
2020
• Despite the 2020 season being cut short, the Beavers were able to play 26 games for a record of 17-9 record. The team was unable to start conference play before the season ended.
• Eight players participated in at least 75 percent of the games, with seven returning to the team in 2021. Mariah Mazon, Xiao Gin, Missy Nunes, and Grace Messmer started all 26 games with Morgan Allen starting 25 and Maia Rader and Ashton Zeiher starting 24.
• Nunes led the team with five home runs and 22 RBIs.
• Mazon and Fallon Molnar followed Nunes with four home runs. Mazon notched 15 RBIs while Molnar earned 11.
For those who competed regularly, Mazon's .377 batting average (29 hits, 77 at bats) led the 2020 squad.
• In the field, Morgan Allen led the team with 144 putouts while Nunes followed with 121.
• Allen and Grace Messmer both contributed to five double plays while Messmer led the team with 46 assists.
2019
• The Beavers finished the 2019 season with 26 wins and 19 losses with an 8-14 record in the Pac-12.
• Frankie Hammoude and Missy Nunes served as a large portion of Oregon State's offensive power, starting all 45 games on the season.
• Hammoude led the squad with 11 home runs and 36 RBIs. She earned 34 hits in 120 at bats for a .283 batting average.
• Missy Nunes followed Hammoude's lead with seven home runs and 27 RBIs. She earned 36 hits in 132 at bats for a .273 batting average.
• In the field, Hammoude led the team with 300 putouts while Nunes was the runner-up with 67 assists, and serves as the returner with the highest assists.
• Hammoude contributed to 12 double plays while Maia Rader helped in eight.
• Radar is the final returner who played in at least 75 percent of 2019's games. She made 38 starts at shortstop and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.
ON THE MOUND
2020
• All four pitchers who saw action on the mound in 2020 will return for 2021.
• Mariah Mazon, returning to complete her junior season, was the leading pitcher in 2020. Mazon recorded a 1.18 ERA with 10 wins in 20 appearances.
• She pitched a total of 113 innings, 14 complete games, and six shutouts while striking out 130 batters.
• Mazon returns after being named to Softball America's All-America Third Team.
• Second to Mazon was Trystan Melancon, a graduate transfer from the University of Houston. With 11 appearances in 2020, Melancon notched a 1.81 ERA with five wins and three complete games. She earned one shutout and pitched for 67 strike outs.
• Rounding out the 2020 pitching squad was freshman Xiao Gin and senior Nerissa Eason. Gin earned two wins with a 3.28 ERA and nine strike outs while Eason pitched for a 1.75 ERA and three strike outs.
2019
• The Beavers returned three pitchers from 2019 to the 2020 season.
• Mariah Mazon was the leading returner for the Beavers. She recorded a 2.70 ERA, posting 17 wins in 30 appearances. She pitched 174 total innings, 20 complete games, and four shutouts while striking out 166 batters.
• Mazon was named to the NFCA All-Region Second Team and Pac-12 All-Conference Second Team in 2018 with a third-team conference nod in 2017, as well as being named to the conference all-freshman team.
• Nerissa Eason posted three wins in 10 appearances in 2019. She pitched 34.1 innings, recording 33 strike outs, two complete games, and one shutout.
• Sophomore Payton Goodrich, who will not return for 2021, and freshman Xiao Gin rounded out the 2020 pitching lineup.
THE ROSTER
• Due to the shortened season of 2020, all members of the 2020 softball team have received another year of eligibility. Each of the members of the 2020 team has kept their athletic years from last season.
• All but one member of the senior class will be returning. Trystan Melancon, Fallon Molnar, and Nerissa Eason will play for Oregon State in 2021 while Karla Calderon graduated in 2020.
• All but two members, Paige Goodrich and Izzy Owen, of the rest of the team have chosen to return for the 2021 season.
• The fall of 2020 brought four new additions to the team: Charity Sevaaetasi, Jade Soto, Katie Hicks, and Madison Simon are all the newcomers for the 2021 season.
• Though 2020 was cut short, the Beavers were able to play 26 games. Four student-athletes - Xiao Gin, Mariah Mazon, Grace Messmer, and Missy Nunes - all started in all 26 games while Morgan Allen missed just one game and Ashton Zeiher and Maia Rader missed two games.
• 12 of the 16 returning softball players on the 2021 team competed in at least five games for the Beavers last season with six of those returning from 2019 seeing action in at least a third of the last full season's games.
• The Beavers have one player that hails from the state of Oregon, Ashton Zeiher (Scio), with one player that comes from outside the United States, Grace Messmer (British Columbia).
• California is the highest represented state on the 2021 Oregon State softball team with 13 student-athletes coming from the state to our south. Two players come from Washington with one student-athlete from Florida, Nevada, and Texas.
ABOUT UTAH STATE
• Utah State will open the 2021 season against Oregon State on Friday.
• The Aggies finished the 2020 season with a 13-11 overall record. They did not get to play any conference games due to the shortened season.
• Utah State closed 2019 with a 17-20 record, 6-17 in the Mountain West Conference.
• Since 2019, the Aggies have lost eight players, three in 2019 and five in 2020. Utah State has gained five newcomers in 2021, in addition to the three sophomores who had their freshman season cut short.
AGAINST UTAH STATE
• Oregon State leads the all-time series, 10-4.
• The Beavers last saw the Aggies at home 10 years ago, in which OSU beat USU 9-0 in game one and 8-1 in game two on March 19, 2011.
ABOUT CAL STATE FULLERTON
• Cal State Fullerton will open the 2021 season by hosting the Easton Invitational with Oregon State and Utah State on Feb. 12-13.
• The Titans finished the 2020 season before they were able to begin conference play, with a 14-10 record.
• In 2019, they finished with a 38-18 record overall, with 18 Big West wins and just three conference losses.
• Since the Titans' last full season, they have lost six seniors, three in 2019 and three in 2020. Four players will be returning for a fifth season with the team.
• Cal State Fullerton welcomed 12 newcomers for the 2021 season in addition to the three sophomores (on the roster as freshmen) who had their freshman season cut short.
AGAINST CAL STATE FULLERTON
• Oregon State leads the all-time series, 12-10.
• The Titans were one of the few teams to see action against the Beavers in 2020. On February 23, 2020, OSU beat CS Fullerton, 2-0. Junior Missy Nunes hit a double for an RBI in the first inning before senior Fallon Molnar hit a home run in the fifth inning for the second RBI.
ABOUT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
• Before the Beavers see action against the Lions, LMU will host Cal Poly (Feb. 12) and Fresno State (Feb. 13) for its first four games (two each).
• The Lions finished the 2020 season with a 13-10 record before beginning conference play.
• In 2019, Loyola Marymount gained an 11-4 conference record, with an overall record of 40-21.
• Since 2019, the Lions have lost only two players. The sole senior in 2020, returned for a fifth year with the program in 2021.
• LMU has gained eight newcomers in addition to four who redshirted for their freshman year and five sophomores who had their freshman season cut.
AGAINST LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
• Oregon State leads the all-time series, 14-4.
• The Lions and the Beavers last met in March of 2019, where OSU found a 6-2 victory. Sophomore Frankie Hammoude hit a sac fly for an RBI as one of two runs in the first inning. In the fifth inning, junior Missy Nunes made the score 6-1 with a three-run homer. LMU also earned their final run in the fifth inning. Mariah Mazon pitched for eight strike-outs against the Lions.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
• The Beavers have reached the NCAA Tournament four times under the direction of head coach Laura Berg. As a program, OSU has made a postseason appearance 13 times.
• The Beavers are 30-22 all-time in their 13 tournament appearances following two wins and two losses at the Tuscaloosa Regional in 2018.
• The last time OSU won a regional was in 2006 when it played Nevada and No. 19 Baylor twice. OSU went on to play in the Women's College World Series that year.
• Berg and former head coach Kirk Walker (1995-2012) are the only head coaches in program history to reach the NCAA Tournament.
NATIONAL SOFTBALL
• Head coach Laura Berg is the most decorated USA Softball Olympic Athlete after joining the national team in 1994. Berg won three gold medals for the United States (1996 - Atlanta, 2000 - Sydney, 2004 - Athens) and one silver (2008 - Beijing).
• Berg joined the Women's National Team coaching staff in 2012 and has served as an assistant before being named the head coach for the Junior WNT in 2017. Most recently, Berg was an assistant coach with the WNY that won Gold at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
• On November 14, 2019, Berg was named an assistant to the 2020 WNT's coaching staff.
• Junior Frankie Hammoude made her National Team debut in the summer of 2019 after trying out and making the Junior Women's National Team.
• Hammoude helped the JWNT become the 2019 U-19 WBSC World Cup Champions after hitting a three-run home run to tie things up in the championship game against Japan. The USA went on to capture the title.
• Sophomore Grace Messmer helped Canada to a Bronze Medal finish at the WBSC World Cup after recording a sac fly against Australia.
ABOUT THE OREGON STATE COACHING STAFF
• Head coach Laura Berg hung up her cleats after nearly 20 years of playing 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.
• Berg enters her ninth season at the helm of the Oregon State program, recording four NCAA Tournament appearances. Read more about the Beavers' head coach on the attached game notes.
• Associate head coach Marcie Green also has experience with law enforcement. Green studied criminology at Fresno State and spent five years as a prison guard at Corcoran State Prison in California following graduation before starting to coach. Green works primarily with the pitchers.
• Assistant coach Eric Leyba returns for his third season on staff, working with the infielders and batters. Under his first season with the infielders, Leyba coached Hammoude and Rader to All-Freshman honors at first base and shortstop.
• Volunteer assistant coach Shelly Prochaska is entering her second straight season with the Beavers. Prochaska, a member of the softball team from 2000-03, served as an undergraduate assistant in 2004. Before coming to Oregon State, she was an assistant coach for the Sonoma State softball program during the 2018-19 season.
• Heather Smith also returns for her 20th season as the Director of Operations.
UP NEXT
• After a weekend in California, the Beavers will head further south for four games in Arizona, Feb. 26-28.
For more information on the Oregon State softball team, visit OSUBeavers.com or follow the team on Twitter and Instagram, @BeaverSoftball.
OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).