May 2, 1998
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Tarrah Beyster hit her 12th homer of the season to tie her own school record, but her efforts weren't enough for a victory, as No. 4 Washington (43-10, 16-6 Pacific-10) swept Oregon State (26-23, 7-15) in doubleheader softball action Saturday. The Huskies took the opener, 7-1, before handing the Beavers an 8-2 loss in the nightcap at Ropes-Fetrow Field. "Washington has a very strong team and they're playing very well," said head coach Kirk Walker. "It'd be nice to have a little bit more confidence in ourselves that we're capable of playing with a team of that caliber." Oregon State's hitters struggled in game one, collecting just three hits. Parisa Plant singled in the in the third, but the Beavers remained scoreless until the sixth inning. Jodi Chmielewski drew a two-out walk and then scored on Beyster's double to left centerfield. Brooke Rutschman had OSU's only other hit of the game, a hard-hit ball to third base in the seventh. Beyster (21-13) took the loss for the Beavers after giving up eight hits and five runs, three earned, in five innings of work. She was hit by a pitch on her throwing arm in the fourth inning and then gave up two runs in the fifth before being taken out of the game. Rutschman threw the final two innings in relief. Jamie Graves (17-4) picked up the win for the Huskies. Washington jumped ahead, 2-0, in the top of the first inning when Kelly Hauxhurst reached as a result of Tasha Heddinger's fielding error to set up Eve Gaw's two-run homer. Beyster, batting as the designated player, returned the favor with a solo shot to left field for her 12th homer of the season to tie her school record from a year ago. The Beavers knotted the score at 2-2 later the bottom of the first inning after Jennifer Spediacci walked Kim Herman and Jenni Jodoin before Denise Brown came up with an RBI single to score Herman. "It was nice to hit the ball a little better in the second game," said Walker. "I thought we played with much better in terms of our intensity in that second game." The game remained tied until the fourth when the Huskies scored five runs on five hits to take the lead for good. They added another run in the sixth as well. Brooke Hofstetter dropped to 5-10 with the loss, while Spediacci, who threw a no-hitter against the Beavers earlier this season, improved to 19-5 with the victory.
Oregon State Softball vs. Washington |
