Oregon State Ready for Doubleheader at Home, Single at No. 5 Oregon

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CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Oregon State softball team will host Sacramento State for two games on Friday, March 12 before heading to Oregon for a single game on Saturday, March 13.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
Oregon State vs Sacramento State
DATE: Friday, March 12
TIME: 3:00 PM & 5:00 PM PT
SITE: OSU Softball Complex - Corvallis, Ore.
RECORD: Oregon State 8-5, 0-0 Pac-12; Sacramento State 6-11, 0-0 Big Sky
SERIES RECORD: Oregon State leads, 13-12
STATS: OSUBeavers.com
STREAM: OSUBeavers.com
 
Oregon State at No. 5 Oregon
DATE: Saturday, March 13
TIME: 3:30 PM PT
SITE: Jane Sanders Stadium - Eugene, Ore.
RECORD: Oregon State 8-5, 0-0 Pac-12; Oregon 13-1, 0-0 Pac-12
SERIES RECORD: Oregon leads, 93-92-1
STATS: GoDucks.com
STREAM: GoDucks.com
 
*records as of 3/10/21
 
Oregon State notes | Sacramento State notes | Oregon notes
 
ABOUT THE BEAVERS
• Oregon State opened the season with five straight wins before they earned a 1-2 record in its second weekend of play and a 2-3 record in Colorado (Mar. 5-7).
• The Beavers won all four of their games at the Easton Invitational (Feb. 12-13) with their final win coming against Loyola Marymount on Feb. 15. 
• At the Wildcat Invitational (Feb. 26-28), OSU saw a win over BYU with losses to Seattle and No. 3 Arizona.
• Freshmen Xiao Gin and Grace Messmer lead the team with a .357 batting average while junior Missy Nunes' .675 slugging average is the best of the Beaver's active players.
• Sophomore Frankie Hammoude, Nunes, and junior Mariah Mazon have combined for half of the team's RBI, over two-thirds of the team's home runs, and 43 percent of the Beavers' hits. 
• Nunes and Mazon are tied with 11 RBI with Hammoude following at 10; Nunes and Hammoude have four homers with Mazon hitting for three; and Mazon (15), Nunes (14), and Hammoude (13) lead the team in hits. 
• In the field, Hammoude leads with 79 putouts while Simon leads with 19 assists.
• Gin, Hammoude, and junior Burden have each played for multiple double-plays. Gin has played for three with Hammoude and Burden compiling two.
 
ON THE MOUND
• Junior Mariah Mazon has won six games for the Beavers with seniors Nerissa Eason and Trystan Melancon each earning one win.
• Earning the team's first shutout of the season, Mazon also pitched her first no-hitter of the season against Utah State (2/13). 
• In 54.2 innings pitched, Mazon has notched 63 strikeouts from 201 batters. 
• Eason follows with 16.1 innings pitched for a 1.71 ERA with 15 strikeouts from 62 batters.
• Melancon has seen 42 batters with 15 strikeouts made for a 3.41 ERA in 12.1 innings pitched.
 
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW
• The Oregon State softball team was in Colorado for its third weekend of play. Seeing five games, the team saw two wins against Northern Colorado with two losses to Colorado State and one loss to South Dakota State.
• The Beavers opened the weekend with a 7-0 loss to South Dakota State. Senior pitcher Nerissa Eason notched three strikeouts while freshman pitcher Xiao Gin struck out one batter.
• On the same day, OSU fell to Colorado State, 10-1. Junior Missy Nunes hit a single for the lone run.
• The Beavers opened Saturday with a 5-0 shutout win from junior pitcher Mariah Mazon, allowing Northern Colorado to earn just three hits. Sophomore Frankie Hammoude hit for a home run in the fourth with Mazon, Hammoude, Nunes, and freshman Charity Sevaaetasi each hitting for an RBI in the sixth inning.
• Later that day, Oregon State fell 4-3 against Colorado State. Sophomore Maia Rader doubled to left center for a Beaver lead in the second. The Rams took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the second. Freshman Xiao Gin hit a triple for one run in the sixth but CSU finished with the win.
• The Beavers closed the weekend with a six-inning 15-0 win over Northern Colorado. Once again, the Bears were held to two hits by Mazon. Three Beavers, Mazon, Hammoude, and Sevaaetasi, hit home runs on Sunday with eight different players hitting for at least one RBI. Mazon (4) and Sevaaetasi (3) each tallied multiple RBI.
 
FIRST MARKS
Over the weekend: 
• Junior Morgan Allen, redshirt-freshman Bailey McLaughlin, and sophomore Maia Rader each notched their first double of the season for their first RBI of 2021.
• Freshman Xiao Gin hit her first triple of the season.
  
PAC-12 TEAM RANKINGS
Hitting:
• 5th; 20 doubles
• T-5th; 3 triples
 
Pitching:
• T-1st; 5 home runs allowed
• 4th; 95 strikeouts
• 4th; 60 hits allowed
• 5th; 2.03 ERA
• T-5th; 25 earned runs allowed
 
Fielding:
• 4th; 259 putouts
• T-4th; 4 double plays
 
PAC-12 INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
Nerissa Eason
• 10th; 1.71 ERA
• 15th; 6.43 strikeouts/seven innings
 
Xiao Gin
• T-12th; 4 doubles
• T-20th; 13 assists
 
Frankie Hammoude
• T-13th; 4 home runs
• 25th; .659 slugging percentage
• 8th; 79 putouts
 
Rylee Maston
•10th; 63 putouts
 
Mariah Mazon
• 2nd; 54.2 innings pitched
• 3rd; 63 strikeouts
• 3rd; 5 complete games
• T-4th; 6 pitching wins
• 9th; 8.07 strikeouts/seven innings
• 12th; 1.79 ERA
• T-18th; 13 runs
• T-18th; 14 assists
• T-19th; 3 doubles
• T-20th; 15 hits
• 24th; .674 slugging percentage
 
Grace Messmer
• T-15th; 15 assists
• T-22nd; .471 on-base percentage
 
Missy Nunes
• T-13th; 4 home runs
• T-22nd; 30 putouts
• 23rd; .675 slugging percentage
• T-24th; 11 runs
• T-25th; 14 hits
 
Charity Sevaaetasi
• T-19th; 3 doubles
 
Madison Simon
• T-12th; 19 assists
 
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.
 
LAST SEASON
• 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. 
ON THE MOUND
• 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 strikeouts.
• 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 strikeouts while Eason pitched for a 1.75 ERA and three strikeouts.
 
A LOOK BACK AT 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
• 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 strikeouts, 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.
 
ABOUT SACRAMENTO STATE
• Sacramento State is 6-11 on the season. In February, the Hornets saw a 3-8 record after splitting the NorCal Kickoff (Feb. 12-14), 2-3, beating Cal on Feb. 20, and falling to Saint Mary's twice (Feb. 19) and Fresno State three times (Feb. 27-28).
• To open March, the Hornets played three two-game series against UC Davis (Mar. 4), Santa Clara (Mar. 5), and Pacific (Mar. 6). Each series was split with one win and one loss.
• Lewa Day leads the team with eight RBI and the team's only three home runs.
• Charizma Guzman and Alexis Parish lead the Hornets with batting averages of .333. 
• In the field, Alondra Mejia tops the team's putouts with 82 while Day has led to the most outs with 27 assists.
• Mejia has had a part in all five of Sacramento State's double-plays.
• Marissa Bertuccio leads on the mound. In 52.2 innings pitched, she has 37 strikeouts and five complete games for five wins and a 2.26 ERA.
 
AGAINST THE HORNETS
• Oregon State holds a small, 13-12, lead with the all-time series.
• The Beavers last saw two wins against the Hornets at the 2017 Fresno State Classic. Going 2-2 on the weekend, OSU beat Sacramento State 3-0 (Saturday, Mar. 11) and 6-5 (Sunday, Mar. 12). 
 
ABOUT NO. 5 OREGON
• Oregon is ranked fifth in the nation in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and the D1Softball.com Poll, and sixth by the ESPN.com/USA Collegiate Top 25.
• The Ducks are 13-1 on the season. Their one loss comes from a split weekend against No.1 UCLA (Feb. 28-Mar. 1). 
• Oregon opened the season 5-0 at the GCU Kickoff Classic (Feb. 12-14) before finding two victories against Fresno State (Feb. 20-21), splitting the weekend in Tempe, Ariz. (Feb. 28-Mar. 1), and, most recently, seeing two wins to both Boise State and Portland State in their first weekend at home (Mar. 6-7).
• Haley Cruse and Mya Felder lead the team's active players with a .400 batting average and three home runs each. Cruse also leads with seven doubles.
• Allee Bunker has hit for the team's most RBI, 18, with Alyssa Brito batting in 14 runs.
• In the field, Terra McGowan leads with 93 putouts while Bunker has the most assists with 22.
• Brooke Yanez has pitched for the most innings (40), notching 65 strikeouts against 141 batters for a 1.75 ERA and six wins. 
 
AGAINST THE DUCKS
• Oregon holds a small 93-92-1 lead in the all-time series. 
• The Beavers last saw the Ducks in Eugene on April 26-28, 2019. OSU won all three games on the weekend. Friday's game was an 8-0 shutout before Saturday's 8-6 victory and Sunday's 12-8 win.
• The first game of the series saw two RBI from Missy Nunes from a home run and two RBI from Maia Rader. Nunes notched another RBI on Saturday while Rader earned another two on Sunday. Frankie Hammoude hit a home run to collect two RBI on Sunday.
 
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
• Following a split weekend at the Pac-12 Oregon schools, Oregon State will host California for its first conference series on March 19-21.
 
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).